Zimbabwe beat Namibia for 3rd consecutive time in T20Is: Stats
What's the story
A stellar innings of 72 from Innocent Kaia helped Zimbabwe beat Namibia in the ongoing 2026 T20 Tri-Series. The victory has kept Zimbabwe's hopes of qualifying for the final alive. With this win, Zimbabwe now lead the head-to-head against Namibia with nine wins out of 17 encounters, including three consecutive victories. Namibia scored 156/6 in 20 overs and in response, Zimbabwe (159/5) won the match by 5 wickets at Namibia Cricket Ground, Windhoek.
Bowling prowess
Zimbabwe's bowling attack shines again
Zimbabwe's bowling attack, which is usually their strong point, proved its mettle once again.
They put Namibia under pressure from the start by making run-scoring difficult and taking early wickets.
Brad Evans was instrumental in this effort with his 2/29, joining Duan Jansen as the joint leading wicket-taker in the series with eight wickets each.
Blessing Muzarabani managed 1/34 from 4 overs whereas Sikandar Raza picked 1/27.
Kundai Matigimu also claimed 2/31 from his 4-over spell.
Chase
Zimbabwe get past Namibia's score
Despite their strong bowling, Zimbabwe's batting has been inconsistent in this series.
Kaia did share 50-plus stands with Brian Bennett and Raza.
But they also suffered a collapse when three wickets fell for just eight runs in 11 balls.
However, by that time, Kaia had already done most of the work to chase down Namibia's target of 157 runs.
Bennett and Raza scored 22 and 29 respectively to chip in for Zimbabwe.
Namibia
How did Namibia fare with the bat?
Namibia's captain Gerhard Erasmus stepped up with a solid performance, scoring an unbeaten 88-run knock.
Erasmus walked in when his side was 17/1. Soon Namibia were reduced to 24/2 and 25/3.
Alexander Volschenk joined Erasmus and the two managed an 83-run stand off 63 balls.
Zimbabwe hit back thereafter before an unbeaten 28-run stand off 12 balls alongside Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton helped Namibia get to 156/6.
Erasmus remained unscathed with a sublime effort on offer for his side.
Erasmus
16th T20I fifty for Erasmus
Erasmus's 88* was laced with 8 fours and 3 sixes. With this knock, he raced to 2,297 runs from 91 matches (87 innings) at 32.81.
He clocked his 16th fifty for Namibia (100s: 1).
As per Cricinfo, in 17 matches versus Zimbabwe, Erasmus has amassed 430 runs at 33.07 (50s: 2).
Meanwhile, in 39 home matches, Erasmus owns 1,129 runs at 41.81 (100s: 1, 50s: 6).
Kaia
Innocent Kaia slams match-winning fifty versus Namibia
Kaia's 72 had 8 fours and 3 sixes. With this knock, he raced to 380 runs from 21 matches at an average of 18.09.
He struck his 2nd fifty and a career-best score.
Overall in the 20-over format, Kaia now owns 914 runs from 51 matches at 19.04.
He struck his 3rd fifty in 20 overs cricket. Kaia has hit 20 sixes.
Information
Raza delivers and all-round show
Raza delivered and all-round show for Zimbabwe, scoring 29 and claiming 1 scalp. From 143 T20Is (138 innings), Raza has amassed 3,228 runs at 25.61. In 20 overs cricket overall, Raza owns 7,758 runs at 25.43. In terms of wickets, he owns 258 in 20 overs cricket, including 113 for Zimbabwe.