Two Namibian cricketers who recently starred at the Twenty 20 (T20) Cricket World Cup in The United Arab Emirates have been named ESPNcricinfo Awards 2021 Associate bowling and batting winners.

According to a ESPNcricinfo statement on Thursday, captain of the team and batting star Merwe Gerhard Erasmus and pace bowler Ruben Trumpelmann were named top players in their respective specialised positions.

“Trumpelmann, who made the biggest mark with the ball during Namibia’s only win of the Super 12 stage with an opening over for the ages. He struck three times in the first four balls, reeling in three of Scotland’s biggest fish in the top order,” the statement said.

The over included a golden dark for Richie Berrington who is Scotland’s all-time leading scorer in T20 Internationals in 67 career innings.

Trumpelmann beat fellow Namibia pace bowler JJ Smit and Nepal’s leg-spinning phenomenon Sandeep Lamichhane to win the top prize.

“Erasmus’ three half-centuries in the qualifier in 2019 went a long way towards securing Namibia a spot in the 2021 T20 World Cup, even though the third of those scores came in a defeat against Ireland,” the statement explained his victory.

The Namibian captain played the World Cup with a broken finger, which limited his shot selection requiring an injury-induced adjustment to his batting grip.

Erasmus managed to score an unbeaten 53 to take Namibia to the Super 12 stage and book a place in the 2022 T20 World Cup.

In a video message acceptance speech, Erasmus said the award was a massive achievement for Namibia and Cricket Namibia.

“When you do well you are expected to do well or even better again. It was a good few years for us, but this next period feels different and I’m fresh and ready to do well again,” he added.

Erasmus was also nominated for the captain of the year award where he was up against New Zealand captain, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli of India, Australia’s Aaron Finch, and Babar Azam of Pakistan.

Source: Namibia Press News Agency