Put in to bat for the second time in the series, South Africa had a reasonably cautious start, though boundaries came off anything too wide. Jordan Hermann hit two fours and a six before he tried to flick a full Brassell ball and was caught by Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton at square leg.
That brought de Zorzi to the crease early again and he faced similar tests to match one as Brassell beat his bat and he took time to settle in. De Zorzi scored five off the first 13 balls he faced before he was gifted a full toss from debutant Waldo Smith and hit him down the ground for four. Smith lacked the pace of Brassell and offered little threat, but at 18 years old, he has plenty of time to find his bite.
South Africa worked their way to 119 for 1 at the half-way stage, with both batters well set and Esterhuizen already on a half-century. There was intent to accelerate from that point as Esterhuizen took a liking to Loftie-Eaton, who he reverse-swept, slogged over deep midwicket and speared through cover point. By that point, de Zorzi also reached fifty off 58 balls.
Smith’s return saw Esterhuizen enter the 80s with his third six; he got into the nineties with a fourth and reached his hundred with his fifth six, straight down the ground off Erasmus. Esterhuizen’s second fifty runs came off just 27 balls. He motored to 119 off 110 before trying one big shot too many, when he tried to smash Ruben Trumpelmann out of the ground but miscued to Erasmus at mid-off.
There were still 14.5 overs left in the innings and plenty of time for de Zorzi to reach three figures and he started to show signs he was in a hurry to get there. He swatted Brassell down the ground for four but the next ball flicked him to Jan Frylinck at mid-wicket and gave Dewald Brevis 12-and-a-half overs to do some damage.
South Africa were 242 for 4 after 40 overs and could have lost their finisher when Brevis drilled a ball back to Loftie-Eaton, who could not hold on his followthrough and hurt his finger in the process. Namibia sent down 3.1 boundary-less overs before Brevis pulled Trumpelmann over long-on and then mid-wicket for two sixes in an over that cost 19 runs. Trumpelmann had the last word when Brevis tried to send a high full toss over mid-wicket again but top-edged it to short fine leg. Trumpelmann finished with respectable figures of 2 for 57.
Bosch took South Africa to 300 and beyond with back-to-back sixes off Brassell, followed by a third off the over’s fourth ball. He attempted a fourth and was caught at long-off. Jason Smith was bowled trying to slog sweep and Jansen and Subrayen both holed out attempting to clear the ground but Namibia did not bowl South Africa out and had another mountain to climb.
Their chase started in the worst possible way when Michael van Lingen, on comeback after a brief retirement, drove Bosch to Hermann at short extra cover. Three balls later, Malan Kruger was surprised by steepling bounce from Jansen and popped the ball up to Brevis at backward point. And in the over after that, Frylinck pulled Bosch to fine leg as Namibia were 3 for 3 in the fourth over.
He had Zane Green for company for 35 balls and Jan Balt for another 96. The seventh-wicket stand of 71 off 96 balls frustrated South Africa and it took a moment of magic in the field to separate them. Brevis pulled off a stunning piece of fielding as he swooped in from backward point to throw himself at the stumps and run Balt out for 26.
Namibia’s challenge ended when Erasmus chipped Mokoena to extra cover to give him his first ODI wicket, with more than 15 overs remaining in the chase. Namibia were bowled out in the 42nd over but will have another opportunity on Sunday to match up against this opposition.
