Chennai, Feb 15 (IANS) Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus accepted that losing the toss and failing to show enough intent in the chase proved costly as they suffered a 31-run defeat in their third match of the T20 World Cup 2026, played at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.

USA posted a strong total of 199 after opting to bat first, riding on a crucial opening partnership and a late flourish from their middle order. In reply, Namibia were restricted to 168/6 in 20 overs despite a fifty by Louren Steenkamp.

“I thought it was a nice wicket. It turned out to be a really good scoring wicket. But we would have liked to also bat first and put some pressure on the ball. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way. I think that’s the way it goes. You can’t really control tosses, but you just play the game,” Erasmus said after the match.

He acknowledged the impact of the USA’s top order, particularly the opening stand that laid the platform for a 199-run total.

“We know it’s a contest, bat and ball, and their batters played exceptionally well at the front. We tried to do as a top plan from the previous game. Unfortunately, our plan was quite tough to handle again. But yeah, credit goes to their pair.”

Namibia did manage to claw their way back in the middle overs through disciplined bowling. “My bowlers rolled it up in the middle period and really bowled well to get us back in the game,” he noted, highlighting the effort that briefly stalled USA’s momentum.

The captain also had words of praise for leg-spinner Willem Myburgh, who impressed with his control. “He’s got great control with his leggies. Such a nice skill to have in this format of the game, I guess. All the top bowlers in the world seem to be the exponents. And I hope he goes from strength to strength because it’s such a vital asset to have.”

Chasing 200, Namibia were well placed at the halfway stage but could not maintain the required tempo, and the captain feels that the lack of intent at the end caused problems for them.

“We were in the game in the halfway stage. We had a good foundation. I thought obviously the batters coming in would probably find a few deliveries tough to get used to the slowness of the wicket. But yeah, not enough intent there. And in terms of boundaries, I don’t think so. We didn’t quite have a full crack at it.”

With this loss, Namibia is out of the Super 8 contention. They will play their last match against Pakistan on 18th February at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.

–IANS

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