Sikandar Raza continued his blistering form after slamming his second successive half century to steer Zimbabwe to a six wicket victory against Namibia at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek on Friday.
With the win Zimbabwe completed their impressive turnaround from losing the series opener to take a 2-1 lead in the five match series.
After starring in the previous match to help Zimbabwe level the series, Raza was in superb form again as he smashed 52 off 36 deliveries.
Raza’s match-winning innings ensured Zimbabwe comfortably finished on 144/4 in 18.4 overs after they had restricted Namibia to 138 for six.
Another game, another Player of the Match trophy for @SRazaB24🙌#NAMvZIM #3rdT20I pic.twitter.com/MKizY8sAsV
— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) October 27, 2023
Earlier Namibia won the toss and elected to bat before Jan Frylinck’s gritty knock guided them to a competitive total
of 138 runs for the loss of six wickets in their allotted 20 overs.
Frylinck was the standout performer for the Namibian side, scoring 41 runs off 39 balls, which included three fours and one six.
Jean-Pierre Kotze contributed with 31 runs off 28 deliveries as well.
On the other hand, the Zimbabwe bowlers displayed a collective effort to keep Namibia in check throughout the innings.
In response, Zimbabwe chased down the target with eight balls to spare, finishing at 144/4 in 18.4 overs.
For the second successive match Raza played a crucial role in the victory, smashing 52 runs off 36 balls, featuring four fours and three sixes.
Notably, this was Raza’s second consecutive half-century in the series which duly earned him his second Player of the Match award in as many matches.
Opener Tinashe Kamunhukamwe contributed 36 runs from 32 deliveries, and anchored the Zimbabwean innings despite the early loss of Nick Welch.
In the end, Zimbabwe successfully reached the set target, which puts them in control of the series with two matches left.
Namibia’s bowlers struggled to defend their total, with Frylinck and Ben Shikongo taking one wicket each.
The action continues at the same venue on Sunday (October 29) with Zimbabwe aiming to seal clinch the series with a match to spare.
Namibia will be deseprate to win the next game to stay alive in the five match series.