Eagles shine ahead of Tri-Nations series 

The FNB Namibia Eagles will be back in action when they take on Hong Kong and Nigeria in a Tri-Nations T20 series at the FNB Cricket Ground over the next week. 

Namibia’s budding young international players have been in fine form in a 50-over series against Hong Kong over the past few days, while Namibia’s top professional players have excelled in various T20 franchise tournaments abroad.

Gerhard Erasmus was the standout performer overseas when he helped the Pembroke Panthers win the Bermuda Smash Invitational title for the second year in a row, while he also won the Most Valuable Player of the tournament award for the second year in a row. 

In the final against Sandys Spartans on 7 June, he scored a brilliant 104 not out off 54 balls (8×6, 4×4), as the Panthers amassed 217/2 and then restricted the Spartans to 159/7 to complete a commanding 58-run win. 

Earlier in the tournament Erasmus produced another man of the match performance in a seven-wicket victory against Smith’s Sixers. 

He scored 98 not out off only 47 balls (8×6, 4×4) and also took a wicket and a catch to lead the Panthers to a comfortable win with just under five overs to spare. 

He ended the tournament with a total of 222 runs – the second most behind team mate Dominic Sabir with 229, while he also took six wickets and five catches. 

Several other Namibian professionals meanwhile competed in the EUT20 Belgium – the inaugural professional franchise tournament in Belgium over the past fortnight. 

JJ Smit, Ruben Trumpelmann and David Wiese played for the Antwerp Anchors, Bernard Scholtz represented the Ghent Gladiators, and Erasmus joined the Liege Red Lions after his stint in Bermuda. 

Scholtz’s Ghent Gladiators went on to win the title after beating Antwerp Anchors by three wickets in the final last Sunday. 

The Anchors scored 178/6, with Martin Guptill scoring 47 and JJ Smit contributing 16 not out, but the Gladiators reached the target for the loss of three wickets, with Sam Harper scoring 47, Josh Brown 40 and Scholtz taking 1/12. 

Brown was the top batter of the tournament with 229 runs, followed by Guptill on 226, while JJ Smit finished 15th with 98 runs at an average of 32.66 and a highest score of 40 not out. 

Tristan Luus of the Antwerp Anchors was the top bowler with 10 wickets, while Wiese was joint second with eight wickets, and Smit and Ruben Trumpelmann joint-third with seven wickets each. 

In Windhoek, meanwhile, the FNB Namibian Falcons, made up of established national players and upcoming fringe players, beat Hong Kong 2-1 in a 50-over series at the FNB Namibia Cricket Ground.

In the first match on Saturday, star batter Michael van Lingen made a great return to international cricket after coming out of retirement, with a classy century to lead the Falcons to a 32-run victory. He scored 127 off 113 balls (18×4, 1×6), and was well supported by Alexander Volschenk (67) and Malan Kruger (42) as they reached 302/9.

In reply, Hong Kong were all out for 270, with Max Heingo taking 3/55, Jack Brassell 2/58, and William Lottering 2/50. 

Hong Kong, however, struck back with a 76-run win the next day, scoring 281/8 and then dismissing Namibia for 205. 

JC Balt scored 68 runs for Namibia and Volschenk 54, while Khan Aizaz narrowly missed out on a century, remaining not out on 99. 

Namibia sealed the series with a 77-run win on Tuesday. Namibia scored 314/7 with Malan Kruger scoring 74, Gerhard Erasmus 67 and Michael van Lingen 66, while Hong Kong replied with 237/9, with Murtaza Qasim scoring 104 and Khan Ehsan 50 while Jack Brassell took 3/58. 

National cricket coach Craig Williams said a lot of cricket is lying ahead for the Eagles.

“We’re busy preparing for our Holland trip on 13th of July where will will play four ODIs (One Day Internationals). Hong Kong approached us and asked if they can come play here and we’ll never say no,” he said. 

“So we’ve got a ODI series against them and then we’ll have a T20 international series against Hong Kong and Nigeria, which will be really good and I think we’ll probably get some good crowds to come and watch. Then in July the Indian state side Delhi will tour Namibia so we will have a lot of cricket under the belt before we go to the Netherlands,” he added. 

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