Jan Frylinck took the attack to the South African bowling attack and struck an outstanding half-century to set Namibia up for a total of 163/9 in their Namibia T20I Tri-Series match at the Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek on Friday afternoon. South Africa needs 170 runs to win.
Namibia's innings was divided into two halves, one good and the other not so good. Namibia, who were put in to bat first by the visitors, raced to 85/1 in the first 10 overs before adding 78 for the loss of eight wickets in the final 10.
Frylinck struck an impressive 60 off 38 balls (6x4s, 2X6s) to build a strong base for the hosts. This is his fourth T20I half-century and he faced 36 deliveries to reach the milestone. His entertaining knock was ended by Dewald Brevis' part-time spin. The opener was going for a third consecutive six off Brevis' bowling, but was caught by Nqobani Mokoena in the deep.
The left-hander shared a fantastic 84-run opening partnership with Louren Steenkamp (41). The pair took the attack to the visitors from the first over. Frylinck got Namibia off to a flier with back-to-back boundaries off Duan Jansen. His opening partner, Steenkamp, joined in the action in the next over with the first six of the contest.
Their aggressive approach forced Bjorn Fortuin's hand. The South African captain introduced Prenelan Subrayen into the attack. The spinner stopped the boundaries, but not the runs. The duo pushed Namibia to 57/0 at the close of the powerplay.
Fortuin got South Africa the breakthrough with Steenkamp's wicket in the 10th over. The opener tried to heave the spinner's delivery over the ropes. He missed, and Fortuin hit the stumps. Namibia struggled to maintain their momentum in the wake of the openers' demise. Frylinck and Steenkamp were dismissed in a space of 3.2 overs.
South Africa's spinners shared six of the nine wickets that fell. Prenelan Subrayen, who claimed a brace of wickets in his final over, finished the innings with three wickets for 32 runs in four overs. Bjorn Fortuin claimed two scalps for 17 runs in his four, while Dewald Brevis took a single wicket for 22 runs in two overs.
South Africa's debutant, Duan Jansen, claimed two wickets for 32 runs in four overs. Nqobani Mokoena took the last wicket that fell in the innings. The visitors were unfortunate to lose one of their main pacers, Lutho Sipamla, to a hamstring injury midway through the ninth over.
NAMIBIA: Jan Frylinck, Louren Steenkamp, Gerhard Erasmus (capt), Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Zane Green (wk), Alex Busing-Volschenk, JJ Smit, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz, Jack Brassell, Max Heingo.
SOUTH AFRICA: Lhuan-dré Pretorius, Jordan Hermann, Tony de Zorzi, Connor Esterhuizen (wk), Dewald Brevis, Rubin Hermann, Duan Jansen, Bjorn Fortuin (capt), Nqobani Mokoena, Prenelan Subrayen, Lutho Sipamla.