Jan Frylinck’s brilliant half-century powers Namibia to stunning win over South Africa in tri-series opener

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Namibia opened their home T20I tri-series campaign with an 18-run victory over South Africa in Windhoek. Asked to bat first, the hosts made a strong start before losing wickets at regular intervals in the second half of their innings. South Africa remained in the contest during the chase despite losing early wickets, with Dewald Brevis keeping their hopes alive with an aggressive knock. However, Namibia’s bowling attack delivered under pressure to defend their total and begin the seven-match series with a win.

Namibia got off to an excellent start after being put into bat, with Jan Frylinck and Louren Steenkamp putting together an 84-run opening partnership. The pair attacked the South African bowling during the Powerplay, helping Namibia reach 57/0 after six overs. Frylinck continued to make the most of his opportunity after being dropped early in his innings. He brought up his half-century with a six off Brevis and went on to top-score with 60.

Steenkamp also played an important role with 41 before falling to stand-in captain Bjorn Fortuin. South Africa’s spinners then turned the innings around. Prenelan Subrayen claimed 3/32, while Fortuin finished with 2/17 as Namibia slipped from 116/1 to 133/5. Despite the collapse, the hosts recovered sufficiently to finish on 163/9 from their 20 overs.

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South Africa struggled early in the chase as Jack Brassell, Ruben Trumpelmann and Max Heingo picked up crucial wickets to reduce the visitors to 39/3. The pressure was eased by Brevis, who shifted gears after a cautious start and brought up his fifty from 39 balls. Brevis kept South Africa in the hunt with a powerful 75 off 50 balls, but lacked consistent support at the other end. Debutant Duan Jansen provided some resistance with an unbeaten 25, while Namibia continued to pick up wickets at key moments.

Brevis was eventually dismissed by Trumpelmann, leaving South Africa needing 31 runs from the final two overs. Gerhard Erasmus conceded only three runs in the penultimate over and removed Fortuin, leaving JJ Smit with 28 runs to defend in the final over. Smit finished the job in style, claiming two wickets in two balls as South Africa were restricted to 145/9. Trumpelmann and Smit finished with three wickets each as Namibia completed an 18-run victory.

A famous win for Namibia! Having beaten South Africa just 10 months ago, they’ve repeated the feat in sensational style ✨💯#SAvNAM #NamibiaCricket

— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) August 29, 2026

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