Cricket-South Africa edge high-scoring T20 to end Namibia jinx

Sept 4 (Reuters) - South Africa's ⁠Lhuan-dre Pretorius struck his maiden Twenty20 International ton with ⁠101 from 53 balls as the tourists broke their ‌Namibia jinx to win by 11 runs in their Tri-Series clash in Windhoek on Friday and book a final place against Zimbabwe.

Namibia had won their previous ​two T20 clashes with their neighbours, ⁠both against depleted South Africa ⁠teams, but this time came unstuck as the visitors posted 228 ⁠for ‌four.

Namibia were in the contest for much of their innings but ran out of steam towards the ⁠back end as they reached 217 for three in ​their allotted ‌20 overs.

South Africa were sent in to bat and a ⁠156-run opening ​stand from 69 deliveries between Pretorius and Connor Esterhuizen (88 from 40 balls) set them up for a massive total.

Both batters hit eight sixes ⁠on the flat wicket as they ​tore into the home bowling attack, with spinner Jan Balt (2-31 in four overs) the only one to come through relatively unscathed.

Namibia also ⁠had a fantastic start as Jan Frylinck (72 from 36 balls) and Louren Steenkamp (61 from 44 balls) put on 119 in 65 balls for the first wicket, but fell just short.

They were not ​helped by Steenkamp retiring hurt at the ⁠end of the 16th over after he took a blow ​to the head and then the arm ‌in separate incidents.

South Africa will play ​Zimbabwe in the series final at the same venue on Sunday.

(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Ken Ferris)

Thank you for your report!

9月4日（路透社）——南非球员卢安德雷·普雷托里乌斯（Lhuan-dre Pretorius）在周五温得和克举行的三方系列赛中，以53球101分的成绩打出了他职业生涯首个T20国际赛百球，帮助客队打破了对阵纳米比亚的魔咒，以11分的优势获胜，并锁定了一个与津巴布韦争夺决赛席位的名额。

纳米比亚此前曾两次与邻国南非进行 T20 比赛并取得胜利，但两次都是对阵阵容不整的南非队，然而这一次却遭遇了滑铁卢，客队南非队以 228 分 4 人出局的成绩结束了比赛。

纳米比亚队在比赛的大部分时间里都保持着竞争力，但在比赛后期后劲不足，在规定的 20 局中仅得到 217 分，损失 3 个出局数。

南非队被派上场击球，普雷托里乌斯和康纳·埃斯特赫伊岑（40球88分）在69个球中取得了156分的开局，为他们取得了巨大的总分奠定了基础。

两名击球手在平坦的球场上都击出了 8 个六分球，猛攻主队的投球进攻，只有旋转球手 Jan Balt（4 局 2-31）相对毫发无损。

纳米比亚队也开局出色，扬·弗林克（36球72分）和劳伦·斯滕坎普（44球61分）为第一局贡献了119分（65球），但最终还是以微弱劣势落败。

斯滕坎普在第 16 局结束时因伤退场，这对他们来说无疑是雪上加霜。他在两次不同的事故中分别头部和手臂受到撞击。

南非队将于周日在同一场地与津巴布韦队进行系列赛决赛。

（尼克·赛义德报道；肯·费里斯编辑）

感谢您的报告！