South Africa 228 for 4 (Pretorius 101, Esterhuizen 88, Balt 2-31) beat Namibia 217 for 3 (Frylinck 72, Steenkamp 61, Mokoena 2-43) by 11 runs
Once was a surprise. Twice was a concern. On Friday, South Africa avoided a third straight defeat to Namibia, but only just.
In the last match of the tri-series, Namibia fell 11 runs short in a high-scoring thriller which had a match aggregate of 445 runs. The result means Namibia will miss out on the final which will be played between South Africa and Zimbabwe on Sunday.
Still, the hosts can hold their heads high for the cricket they have played over the last week, which has included beating South Africa, a last-ball defeat against Zimbabwe, and a last-over loss in their final game, where they faced a huge target. Put in to bat, South Africa posted their fifth-highest T20I total of 228 for 4 on the back of a 156-run opening stand between Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Connor Esterhuizen. Pretorius went on to record his first T20I hundred and the second of his international career, after a Test ton in Zimbabwe.
South Africa were in sight of 250, but as has been the case throughout the series, they fell away slightly at the end, and it almost looked like they would regret that. Asked to complete their highest successful chase in T20Is, Namibia gave it everything they had. Jan Frylinck and Louren Steenkamp put on 119 for the first wicket, but the momentum they created could not be sustained. That neither Zane Green nor Alex Busing-Volschenk batted may also have been the difference - especially when Steenkamp retired hurt - but ultimately, South Africa's young quicks held their nerve to secure the win.
Esterhuizen relishes chance at the top
Esterhuizen, who emerged on the international scene when he was the top run-scorer in South Africa's T20I series against New Zealand in March, has not had much opportunity to build on that in this series until he was promoted up the order for this match.
After using the opening over to have a sighter, Esterhuizen took on the quick Ruben Trumpelmann almost immediately, and pulled a short ball over fine leg for six. In the next over, he charged at left-arm seamer JJ Smit for six more, and then took back-to-back sixes off Jack Brassell.
By the end of the powerplay, Esterhuizen had hit five sixes, and was on 40 off 21 balls. For comparison, Pretorius had 23 runs off 15 deliveries, and not one six at the same stage. Esterhuizen wasn't done there either. He took 24 runs off Brassell's second over, the ninth of the innings, to bring up his fifty off 26 balls, in a sequence that read: 6, 4, 4, 6, 4, 0.
Pretorius finishes the job
Three days back, Pretorius missed out on a first T20I century when he was on 94 with an over to go against Zimbabwe. But he made up for that against Namibia. At the start of the 20th over, Pretorius, on 89, hit Gerhard Erasmus into the parking lot to move to 95. It was clear that he wanted his hundred the next ball when he tried another big heave but didn't connect.
That, though, didn't stop him from trying again. Pretorius slog-swept the third ball of that over, and it sailed over the boundary for six more for him to bring up his century. Pretorius had barely finished celebrating when Erasmus delivered a yorker, and Pretorius could not get his bat down in time to keep it out. He was bowled with two balls left in the innings, but with a milestone to his name.
Frylinck fires up Namibia's start
Given the magnitude of their task, Namibia had no choice but to throw everything they had at the South African bowlers - and the opening pair did exactly that. Steenkamp and Frylinck showed off their shots as they got Namibia off to a quick start, and their confidence grew as they kept finding boundaries. The biggest of them came when Andile Simelane, who was brought into the squad in place of the injured Lutho Sipamla, went for a short ball, and was dispatched for back-to-back sixes by Frylinck. That helped Namibia end the powerplay on 67 without loss.
Those were the first two of Frylinck's five sixes in what was a dazzling display of brave hitting. Frylinck brought up fifty with a six of legspinner Nqaba Peter off the 28th ball he faced, sent South Africa's stand-in captain Bjorn Fortuin out of the ground, and when Simelane was brought back, hit him onto the stadium roof.
Simelane had the final word when Frylinck tried to pull him over midwicket but didn't get as much on it as he hoped, and was caught by substitute fielder Tony de Zorzi on the rope.
South Africa squeeze at the end
Namibia kept themselves in the hunt throughout the chase, and it was a case of mere moments where South Africa inched ahead. The first came when Eathan Bosch hit Steenkamp on the arm in the 16th over, and two balls later, Steenkamp retired hurt on 61. That brought JJ Smit to the crease, and he managed a four-ball nine before holing out to the fielder at sweeper cover to give South Africa a second slight advantage.
Kwena Maphaka's final over, the 19th, cost 13 runs, which left Namibia needing 24 to win off the final over. Nqobani Mokoena, in his fifth T20I, held his nerve at the end with an obvious plan to bowl wide yorkers. Two of them were too wide, and one was a full toss, but he did not concede a boundary in the final over and got a wicket off the last ball to give South Africa a tense win.
