Namibia stomp to the semi-final after yet another dominant outing

The mouthwatering clash of the undefeated sides of the Kwibuka T20 tournament ended up being the one-side one. Namibia outplayed Kenya in the seventh match, played at Gahanga international stadium, Kigali on June 9.



After successfully chasing in two consecutive games, Kenya won the toss and decided to bowl first. For Namibia, the half centurion from the previous match, Sune Wittmann, continued from where she left off and made most of the power play. While her opening partner Adri van der Merwe was happily rotating the strike, Wittmann was thoroughly hitting the bowlers to all parts of the field.



After conceding 34 runs in the first four overs, Kenya's captain Margaret Ngoche introduced spinner Melvin Idambo, hoping to put a brake on the Namibian scoring. It didn't help much as Wittmann continued to hit through the leg side. The skipper spilled an easy chance of van der Merwe (33) on the final ball of the power play.



The aggressive batting, though, brought Wittmann's downfall as she was caught at covers for 39 off just 26 balls. Kenya's bowling, that was a mix of sloppy and superb before the first wicket, became more precise.



The introduction of Sarah Wetoto in the 13th over derailed Namibia, who looked prime to post a total in excess of 140. She picked three wickets in her four overs and was supported by Esther Wachira, who chipped in with two wickets. Namibia managed to score six for 110 off their 20 overs.



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At the halfway stage, it looked like Kenya's efforts with the ball would made sure that they have an edge over Namibia. But, that wasn't the case as captain Irene van Zyl removed Veronica Abuga (two) in the very first over. Abel (19) and Ngoche (seven) tried to revive the batting inning but they too were back in the pavilion before the power play ended.



The ever-reliable Victoria Hamunyela broke the back of the Kenyan chase with an unplayable line and length as she took four wickets, her second in this tournament. Lavendah Idambo tried to force things with a 16-ball 15, but unfortunately was run out. Namibia's captain Irene van Zyl cleared the tail with back-to-back wickets.



There was not much to ride home for the chasing side as they managed to score only 74 and were bowled out in the 15th over.



Namibia ended their league stage with four wins and became the first team to make the semi-final.



Brief Scores: Namibia 110/6 in 20 overs (Sune Wittmann 39, Adri van der Merwe 33; Sarah Wetoto 3/13) beat Kenya 74 all out in 14.2 overs (Queentor Abel 19, Lavendah Idambo 15; Victoria Hamunyela 4/15) by 36 runs