Match

Namibia won by 63 runs

• Namibia: 316/7 (50 overs)
• Ireland: 253/10 (44.5 overs)

Namibia - 316/7 (50 overs)

Extras: 13

Ireland - 253/10 (44.5 overs)

Extras: 15

Commentary

• Namibia will be mighty pleased with their brilliant performance in all aspects of the game today. These two wins on the trot definitely show the hard work they have put in behind the scenes. Ireland, meanwhile, are under the pump. They haven't lived up to expectations so far in the series. With the series on the line, the visitors need a swift turnaround if they are to stop this talented Namibian side in home conditions. Join us for the 4th ODI in a couple of days. Goodbye and cheers for now!
• Erasmus (3/3): (On Jan Frylinck) Yeah, and awesome that he also went back-to-back from the previous game. So delighted for him scoring 100. And it's something that the top order, the top four, have chatted long and hard about over the last year or two. And yeah, it's awesome to see that we've had almost an 80 percent or 90 percent strike rate in terms of hundred partnerships over the last 10 or 15 ODIs that we've played. So that's awesome to see the guys really putting in consistent performances and making it easier for selectors and stuff to really put places in the team and roles in the team in a solidified way. (On two wins in a row over a Test-playing nation and the pressure it brings) Yeah, I think it's obviously nice to win again because it shows it wasn't some sort of flash in the pan. And if you've got some belief from the previous win, you've sort of got some belief that you're here to stay and you're at this level for a reason. So I guess that's what this win does. But again, it's going to be too hard once you battle for the series on the weekend.
• Erasmus (2/2): (On the lively fielding and the run-outs today) Yeah, excellent run-out. Also, the previous game had an excellent run-out. So if big moments like that can go your way, and fielders with real determination and guys who bring you that culture in the field of not giving up, it's usually those fit guys like Malan who tend to change the game. We've had big games in the past as well where he's done that. And I think those moments in cricket aren't always as highly celebrated as hundreds and stuff. But if they win you cricket games, then I think they're just as valuable.
• Gerhard Erasmus | Namibia Captain (1/1): (On two good wins on the trot) Yeah, I think what leadership strive for is consistency. So it's a nice trajectory, as you say, and hopefully in a couple of days' time we can do it again, obviously. But yeah, it's going to be a new game of cricket again. I just thought the boys really recovered well after the previous game. We sort of historically had our first win against a Test country, but we felt that it wasn't really our best in terms of the fielding and bowling performance in the previous game. So we had some stern chats, and I think today's was almost, again, a very clinical performance. A couple of glimpses of the previous games in the end again, but yeah, it's something that we know we can tick off the drawing board if we can do that well in the next game.
• Tucker (2/2): I thought we got through the powerplay okay ourselves. It was just that little period afterwards where we lost three wickets. It's hard to chase a score of 320 when you're losing three wickets in the space of a couple of overs to really build on that. So yeah, that was probably our downfall. (On the next game being a must-win encounter for them) Yeah, it's been a great series so far. Obviously, we've gone 1-0 up, but Namibia have come back strongly. Those are the ebbs and flows of the game. I think we just try to take as much information from these games as we can and try to implement it. But yeah, I think we have work to do, and hopefully we can do it.
• Lorcan Tucker | Ireland Stand-in Captain (1/1): (On falling 63 runs short today) I think Namibia were probably better than us for large parts of the game. I think we scrapped hard. We tried to build partnerships that weren't quite successful. I think with the ball, we couldn't quite build the pressure we needed to. They came home really strong. Jan scored a brilliant hundred. I think with the top order with the bat, we didn't quite set the game up for Curtis like we should have. He played absolutely exceptionally. But yeah, we left him with too much to do. (On the areas they did well apart from Curtis' batting) I thought we bowled well in the powerplay. I thought we scrapped hard at the end. I think they played really well. They had some good power hitting. But I thought we tried to shut them down and kept them to a reasonable total.
• Jan Frylinck | Player of the Match: (On his feelings) Yeah, really good. I just felt better putting a unit back that up from the previous game, which is good to see. (On his batting and support from the other batters) Yeah, I would say so. But we're just targeting big partnerships and trying to take it deep and get every set batter at the end, so we can take the bowlers down. (On his great run of form) Yeah, it's obviously very nice, but we still have two games to go, two big ones. So just looking forward to that.
• 16:36 Local Time, 14:36 GMT, 20:06 IST: Namibia have put together two impressive performances on the trot to take a 2-1 lead in the 5-match ODI series. Frylinck's superb knock of 126 off 122 balls was the driving force behind the hosts' above-par total on a slightly variable surface. A fifty from Erasmus and a breezy cameo down the order from Volschenk also helped their cause. In response, Ireland had a new opening pair (Balbirnie & Carmichael) as Stirling suffered an injury in the first innings while trying to stop a cut from Frylinck. Carmichael was trapped in front in the very first over by Scholtz. Balbirnie and Tucker got off to starts but fell on successive deliveries as pressure mounted on Ireland. Tector also departed cheaply soon after. A 61-run stand between Campher and McBrine brought a bit of solidity but the latter also couldn't convert his start into something substantial. Campher though batted beautifully and once he raised his fifty, he changed gears. He found the boundaries consistently while Dockrell was a bit rusty but dug in. Campher brought up a brilliant century but soon after, he tried to sneak in a risky second run and was caught short. That opened the floodgates and the tailenders crumbled under pressure. A special mention to Scholtz for his brilliant, game-breaking spell. Stick around for the presentations...
• 44.5: Smit to Gavin Hoey, out Gavin Hoey Run Out!! Erasmus is in the thick of things again and is delighted! That's the end of the game actually as Stirling won't come out to bat due to suffering an injury earlier in the game. Was a low full-toss around off, Hoey sliced it to the right of extra cover and the batters took off. Erasmus took it on the bounce and hit the bull's eye to catch Hoey short of his crease. Gavin Hoey run out (Gerhard Erasmus) 21(21) [4s-1 6s-1]
• Smit to Gavin Hoey, THATS OUT!! Run Out!!
• 44.4: Smit to Liam McCarthy, 1 run, a low full-toss outside off, McCarthy crouches in his stance and carves it to the left of third man for a single
• 44.3: Smit to Gavin Hoey, 1 run, a low full-toss outside off, Hoey carves it to sweeper cover
• 44.2: Smit to Gavin Hoey, no run, a yorker angling across Hoey. He tries to carve it square of the wicket but only meets thin air
• 44.1: Smit to Liam McCarthy, 1 run, a shortish delivery on off, gets a bit big on McCarthy. He mistimes the pull through square leg
• JJ Smit [8.0-1-37-0] is back into the attack
• 43.6: Gerhard Erasmus to Gavin Hoey, no run, on a back of a length outside off, punched to the right of extra cover who intercepts
• 43.5: Gerhard Erasmus to Liam McCarthy, leg byes, 1 run, drifting down leg, McCarthy tries to flick but it deflects off his pads towards short fine. The batters sneak in a leg bye
• 43.4: Gerhard Erasmus to Liam McCarthy, no run, full delivery on off, McCarthy drives it to the left of Erasmus who dives on his followthrough to make a good stop
• 43.3: Gerhard Erasmus to Liam McCarthy, no run, almost a replica of the previous delivery, McCarthy tries to chop and gets beaten again
• 43.2: Gerhard Erasmus to Liam McCarthy, no run, quick and flat outside off, McCarthy tries to cut but misses