Walters lifts Namibia to victory

Namibia 316 for 7 (Walters 159, Kotze 69*) beat Zimbabwe 240 by 76 runs
Scorecard

Namibia returned to their winning ways with a 76-run victory over a Zimbabwe XI at the Old Georgians Sports Club in Harare. The match was dominated by a spectacular innings of 159 off 139 balls by Riaan Walters, who ably filled the shoes of the aggressive Jan-Berrie Burger, who was still unfit to play for the visitords.

After Namibia's openers departed for 24 in the morning, Walters took centre stage, and hit 14 fours and seven sixes in a remarkable display of power batting. He found worthy partners in Louis Burger (39) and Deon Kotze (69 not out), but owed much to the fallibility of the fielding side, who between them dropped him five times. They were all hard chances but quite realistic at this level. Namibia made 316 for 7, a virtually unbeatable total.

The Zimbabwe XI batted consistently in reply, with eight batsmen reaching double figures, but none of them capitalised on good starts. The top scorer was Kuda Samunderu, who was promoted to No. 3. Danie Keulder, with three middle-order wickets for 43, returned the best figures.