ZIMBABWE batting frailties were exposed again in the series decider after losing by 32 runs to hand Namibia their first T20I series win against a Full member nation.
Chasing a paltry 127 for victory, Zimbabwe never really got going, losing their in-form opening batter Wessley Madhevere for 10 in the fourth over with the hosts on 23-1.
None would have predicted what was to follow after that.
The Chevron’s captain for the day, Regis Chakabva, was back in the pavilion for a golden duck after he was bowled through the gate by Jan Frylinck to leave the bowler on a hattrick.
Sikandar Raza survived the hattrick ball but then was involved in a mix-up of the next ball with Innocent Kaia being run out from the keeper’s end.
Zimbabwe were reeling at 27-3 after 4.1 overs.
If the hosts were not going to waste the hard work their bowlers had put in, the experienced Raza had to be there until the end.
In a match where Zimbabwe required seven runs an over for victory, Raza and Tony Munyonga added 26 runs for the fourth wicket. Still, Raza tried to up the ante but could only manage an edge off Ben Shikongo to be caught by wicketkeeper Zane Green for 12 from 16 balls.
Mutambami only lasted four balls before Bernard Scholtz bowled him for a single.
Donald Tiripano tried to keep Munyonga company as Zimbabwe attempted to take the game deep.
Just when he decided in the 13th over that the time had come to accelerate the innings, he holed out to Shikongo for 11 from 15 balls to give Gerhard Erasmus his first wicket of the match.
When David Wiese bowled Zimbabwe’s last bastion of hope, Munyonga, who top-scored with 28, the writing was on the wall, and celebrations could start in earnest in Windhoek.
The Chevrons were eventually bundled out for 95, their second-lowest T20I total.
Earlier in the match, Zimbabwe spinners, Madhevere, Raza and medium-pacer Luke Jongwe shared six wickets in 11 overs to put screws on Namibia’s scoring.
To put things in perspective, Namibia scored 79 runs in the first 10 overs and could only manage 48 in the last 10.
But as they say in cricket, you do not bowl and go home. The batters from the home side were again found wanting, and their over reliance on Madhevere this series exposed.
With a month and a half before Zimbabwe hosts T20 Global Qualifiers, the batters are too inconsistent at this stage to challenge for the two coveted places on the line to join other teams in Australia later this year for the T20 World Cup.
But before that, they face Afghanistan early next month in 3 ODI’s and 3 T20I’s.
