Eagles beat Canada 3-0 after great comeback 

The Namibian Eagles completed a remarkable turnaround to beat Canada 3-0 in their International T20 Series on Sunday.

Before the T20 series, the Eagles had gone on a five-match losing streak in the Cricket World Cup League 2 series, which was finally broken on 15 March when they beat Canada by 12 runs on the Duckworth Lewis Method in a rain-affected match.

That was the catalyst, though, as they went on a winning streak in their T20 series against Canada, winning three of their five matches with the other two being rained out.

On Sunday a great batting display by Nicol Loftie-Eaton led Namibia to a comfortable eight-wicket victory.

Canada reached a competitive 142 for seven wickets off their 20 overs, with captain Nicholas Kirton scoring 37, Navneet Dhalkiwal 21 and Dilpreet Bajwa 20, while Jack Brassel (2/15) and Ruben Trumpelmann (2/40) were Namibia’s best bowlers.

In reply, Namibia lost JP Kotze early for five, but Loftie-Eaton and Niko Davin put them on track for victory, with a partnership of 104 runs at more than 10 runs to the over.

Loftie-Eaton was at his destructive best, smashing 65 runs off only 32 balls, including seven fours and four sixes, before he was caught in the deep off Nicholas Kirton’s bowling.

Davin was rather pedestrian in comparison, as he remained unbeaten on 52 off 41 balls (3×4, 1×6), while Namibian captain Gerhard Erasmus was not out on 17, to guide Namibia to a commanding win with 28 balls in hand.

The previous day, Namibia crushed Canada by 10 wickets after a remarkable bowling spell led by JJ Smit.

He dismissed Aaron Johnson for a duck off the first ball of the innings and when Tangeni Lungameni also dismissed Ajayveer Hundai for a duck, Canada were two down with only two runs on the board.

Smit maintained the pressure with regular wickets as Canada crashed to 6/18, before a belated rearguard action saw them reaching 42/7 off 13 overs when rain interrupted play.

Smit led the way with amazing figures of four wickets for nine runs off four overs, while Tangeni Lungameni, Ruben Trumpelmann and Jack Brassell each took one wicket.

JP Kotze wasted no time in chasing down the target as he smashed 32 not out off only 14 balls (4×4, 2×6) while Niko Davin scored four not out as Namibia romped to a ten-wicket victory with 62 balls remaining.

On Wednesday, Namibia beat Canada by three wickets in a thriller that went down to the wire.

In another rain-interrupted match, Canada posted an imposing 145/8 off 15 overs, with Yuvraj Singh scoring 37 and Kanwarpal Tathgur 26, while Trumpelmann took 4/28 and Smit 3/16.

In reply, Namibia lost Kotze early for a duck, but Davin (32 off 19 balls) and Loftie-Eaton (36 off 21) kept them in the hunt.

With two overs to go it was still anyone’s game with Namibia needing 23 runs for victory, but when Smit was dismissed for 33 (off 17 balls), the momentum swung back to Canada.

Zane Green, however, steered Namibia to the target, displaying great poise under pressure as he hit nine runs off the final over, including a sumptious scooped six to secure a dramatic victory.

Smit won the player of the series award while he was also the top bowler with seven wickets at an average of 3.85.

Trumpelmann came second with seven wickets at an average of 10.14, and Akhil Kumar of Canada third with four wickets at an average of 12.25.

Loftie-Eaton was the top batter of the series with 101 runs at an average of 50.50, followed by Niko Davin with 88 at an average of 88 and Canada’s Nicholas Kirton with 63 runs at an average of 21.