South Western Districts beat Namibia by four wickets in a thrilling limited overs match on Sunday that went down to the wire. The match was in the balance till the end with SWD needing six runs off the last four balls final but Pieter Stuurman steered them home when he hit a four off the third last ball of the match to overtake Namibia’s total.
After winning the toss, Namibia elected to bat and got off to a good start as Raymond van Schoor and Ewald Steenkamp put on 69 for the first wicket.
Steenkamp was the first to go, LBW for 26, but Sarel Burger kept the run rate ticking as he put on 45 runs in a second wicket partnership with Van Schoor. Van Schoor was in good nick, hitting some fluent strokes, and seemed well set for a century, before he was run out by a fine piece of fielding by Gerhard Strydom for 70.
Gerrie Snyman added 26 runs off 30 balls, Sarel Burger was out for 40 off 51 balls and Louis Burger was out for 14.
Craig Williams upped the tempo towards the end of Namibia’s innings with some big shots, as he raced to 50 not out off only 25 balls, which included four sixes and two fours.
On conclusion of their 40 overs, Namibia had reached a competitive total of 239/5 at just under six runs an over.
SWD’s innings got off to a shaky start as Louis Klazinga dismissed their first two batsmen with only 21 runs on the board.
Gerhard Strydom however stepped up to the crease and laid the foundation for their victory with a superb century.
Sarel Burger dismissed Stefan Grobler for 27 and Rudi Hillerman for 4, but William Hantam joined Strydom in a fifth wicket stand of 66 runs before Bernard Scholtz bowled Hantam for 29.
Strydom hit a great array of shots to complete his century off only 95 balls, before he was dismissed off Bernard Scholtz’ bowling for 104 runs.
With four overs remaining they still needed 36 runs for victory, but Pieter Stuurman and Roelof Hugo kept the run rate ticking with some good running between the wickets.
Hugo was run out in the final over after some good fielding by Ewald Steenkamp, and with four balls remaining they still needed six runs for victory, but Stuurman hit a four off the third last ball to ensure a thrilling victory.
Namibia’s best bowlers were Bernard Scholtz (2/43 off 6 overs), Sarel Burger (2/44 off eight overs) and Louis Klazinga (2/52 off eight overs).
The scorecard is attached.
| Attachment | Size |
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| One Day scorecard.pdf | 55.72 KB |