Namibia produced a stunning bowling performance to beat Zimbabwe by 32 runs and win the five-match cricket series by 3-2 at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Tuesday.

This was the Eagles’ first-ever series victory over a Test-playing nation.

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bowl first before restricting Namibia to 127 runs for the fall of eight wickets (128/8).

Opener Craig Williams, later named man of the match, scored 48 runs from 38 balls and Ruben Trumpelmann chipped in with 19 runs from 14 balls.

In return, captain Gerhard Erasmus bowled impressive figures of two wickets for nine runs (2/9) and was supported by Jan Frylinck who bowled 2/25 in four overs as Zimbabwe were bowled all out for a modest 95 runs in 19.1 overs.

Eagles coach Pierre de Bruyn said the team is an inspiration to young cricketers in Namibia.

“This team when under pressure embraces the pressure and find a way through key moments to construct and wrestle pressure and momentum back. It is an amazing day for cricket in Namibia. We are over the moon, this is something we will treasure for the rest of our lives,” he said.

He added that they had set themselves some goals before the series and were disappointed they did not win the series 4-1, noting they have themselves to blame especially for losing the first match.

De Bruyn said the team learnt a lot during the series against Zimbabwe and will work hard to rectify mistakes.

Meanwhile, Cricket Namibia president Rudi van Vuuren heaped praise on the Eagles saying by beating Zimbabwe, Namibia reached a very important milestone in world cricket.

“This team has made us as a nation very proud. Cricket is on everybody’s lips and our vision is becoming more of a reality every time our national team performs. We salute the coaches, management team and players,” he said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency