Namibia Women’s T20I Tri-Series 2024 Points Table: Updated standings after Namibia vs Zimbabwe, Match 3

Namibia Women upstaged their Zimbabwe counterparts in the third match of the 2024 women’s T20I tri-series at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek on Sunday, September 8. The result helped Namibia open their account after losing to UAE by a huge margin in the tournament's opening match.

Regardless, UAE Women remain atop the standings with a win and a defeat from two matches. Their net run rate (NRR) currently stands at a formidable 1.206. Even after losing to Namibia, Zimbabwe remained second in the three-team standings. With two points from two matches courtesy of a win and a defeat, Zimbabwe’s NRR of -0.072 stands below UAE's.

While Namibia opened their account, they are still at the bottom owing to their inferior NRR of -1.183. Namibia’s third-placed standing can be attributed to the huge margin of defeat they suffered at the hands of UAE in the opening match of the tri-series.

Sylvia Shihepo guides Namibia to a close win

Batting first, Zimbabwe Women managed to conjure just 101/8 from 20 overs. Opening batter Modester Mupachikwa scored 39 off 55 deliveries and shared a 53-run partnership with Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, whose dismissal at 76/3 triggered a colossal batting collapse. Zimbabwe managed just 25 runs at the expense of five wickets in the final five overs of their innings.

Among the Namibian bowlers, Jurriene Diergaardt picked up two wickets in her only over. Sune Wittmann also claimed figures of 2/12 from three overs while Wilka Mwatile and Saima Tuhadeleni chipped in with a wicket each.

Chasing 102 for victory, Namibia crashed to 45/4 at the halfway stage of their innings. Wicketkeeper-batter Merczerly Gorases subsequently top-scored for the hosts by scoring 27 runs off 47 balls. Sylvia Shihepo also bludgeoned a handy 23* off 14 balls to steer Namibia Women to a three-wicket win with five balls to spare.

Edited by Samya Majumdar