Levitt demolishes Namibian attack in second T20I
Published at 29 February, 2024Michael Levitt almost single-handedly helped the Netherlands to its second T20I victory. In the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, Scott Edwards chose to bat first. That worked out well for the Dutch. Led by a fabulous 135 runs off just 62 balls from Michael Levitt (10x6, 11x4), the Netherlands posted an unattainable 247.
Levitt attacked from the word 'play' and showed no respect whatsoever for the Namibian bowlers. Sybrand Engelbrecht, until then more or less the support act, took over when Levitt was caught. Teja Nidamanuru opened his proverbial account with three sixes off his first three balls. Unfortunately, there were no more deliveries to follow, as a misunderstanding with Barresi led to Nidamanuru's narrow run out.
Meanwhile, Engelbrecht had also fallen in the final over for a great 75 off forty balls (5x6, 7x4). This brought the target for the Africans to 248.
Innings Namibia
A brilliant opening over by Viv Kingma resulted in only two runs. Moments later, the Voorburger uprooted the leg stump of Malan Kruger (15/1). It even became 15/2 when Van Lingen mistimed Aryan Dutt's first ball. The towering skier did not cause any problems for Roelof van der Merwe.
J.J. Smit (19) wanted more after two sixes off Fred Klaassen, who had returned from injury, but was easily caught by Nidamanuru (40/3). Offspinner Engelbrecht surprised Kotzé (26). Despite the astronomical target, Loftie-Eaton (centurion against Nepal) could be a threat. The required run rate was around fourteen runs per over at this stage, but with wickets in hand, nothing seemed impossible today. However, Van der Gugten sealed the fate of the lefthander (11) in the eleventh over (98/5).
The requested run rate went up to 18 runs per over. That proved too much of an ask. Despite rearguard action from Jan Frylinck (42) and Zane Green (42 off 20 balls) the game was over. Namibia managed 188/7, a respectable total on any other day.
Van der Merwe seemed to have earned a second wicket, but Edwards' appeal for a caught behind was turned down. Timm van der Gugten took 2-26. All the other bowlers took one wicket, of whom Kingma (1-26) was the most economical.
Levitt's score put him in 35th place in the global ranking of highest individual T20I scores, along with Australian legend David Warner. The Netherlands' score was the seventeenth highest score ever.
The T20I's can be followed live on youtube.
