Delhi: Namibia made a great start by defeating South Africa by 15 runs in the first match of the T20 International tri-series played in Windhoek on Friday. Chasing the target of 163 runs, the South African team could score only 147 runs in the stipulated overs. With this victory, Namibia maintained its unbeaten record in T20 International cricket against South Africa.

Frylink and Steenkamp gave a fast start

After losing the toss, Namibia came in to bat first and were given a great start by John Frylink and Lauren Steenkamp. Both scored fast in the powerplay and added 57 runs. Their partnership for the first wicket reached 84 runs and Namibia started looking in a strong position.

Frylink got life support

John Frylink got a big chance early on, when his catch was missed. After this he took full advantage of it. Batting aggressively, he completed his half-century and played an important inning of 60 runs. Steenkamp also made a useful contribution, but as soon as he was out, Namibia's innings faltered.

Spinners brought South Africa back

South African bowlers made a brilliant comeback in the middle order. Prenelon Subrayan, Bjorn Fortuin and Dewald Brewis together took six wickets. Subrayan was the most successful bowler and took three wickets for 32 runs in four overs. Fortuin took two wickets for 17 runs.

At one time Namibia's score was only one wicket for 116 runs, but after this wickets started falling continuously. The team lost four wickets in only 22 balls. Namibia eventually managed to reach 162 runs, which was considered a challenging score in the match conditions.

South Africa had a bad start

While chasing the target, South Africa lost important wickets in the initial overs itself. Jack Brassell got the first success by dismissing Jordan Harman. After this Ruben Trumpelman sent Luan-Dre Pretorius to the pavilion. Max Hengo further increased the pressure on South Africa by bowling Tony de Jorji.

Brevis handled the innings alone

Dewald Brevis batted brilliantly for South Africa. In the beginning he was playing slowly, but later he started scoring runs fast. He scored 75 runs in 50 balls and hit many big shots. Brewis single-handedly tried to take the team closer to the goal.

He was supported by debutant Duane Yansen, who scored 25 not out. However, the rest of the batsmen could not perform as per expectations. Before this, Yansen also took two wickets. His all-round performance could not lead the team to victory.

bracel ends brevis's game

South Africa had hopes of victory as long as Brewis was present at the crease, but in Ruben Trumpelman's over he tried to play a big shot and Jack Brassell took a brilliant catch at short third, South Africa's hopes were almost over as soon as Brewis was out.

Namibia completely controlled the match in the last overs. Gerhard Erasmus bowled tightly, while JJ Smit ended South Africa's innings by taking wickets in two consecutive balls in the last over. Namibia will now move forward with confidence, while South Africa will look to make a comeback against Zimbabwe on Saturday.