"It feels surreal," JJ Smit, the Player of the Match for his 3 for 31 in Namibia's second T20I win over South Africa, said at the post-match presentation, in the immediate aftermath of another historic performance. The expression on his face confirmed that he barely believed Namibia had beaten their bigger, badder neighbours for the second time in as many meetings and that he had been part of the team that did it both times.
In October 2025, Smit took the eighth South African wicket - Gerald Coetzee caught at deep third - as Namibia limited South Africa to 134 for 8 in 20 overs. Then, he scored a nervy 13 off 14 balls and had to watch as Zane Green and Ruben Trumpelmann sealed a historic win off the final ball. Ten months later, Smit was yorked for a second-ball duck by Prenelan Subrayen in the middle of a Namibian batting collapse in which they lost 9 for 79, and had to wait to bowl second change in defence of a decent score.
By the time Smit was given the ball, Namibia had already taken two South African wickets - Jordan Hermann and Lhuan-dre Pretorius - but the fielding restrictions were still in place. He had to bowl the last over of the powerplay and not give away too many runs. His left-arm seam conceded just four runs, all singles. Then, he was out of the attack and brought back in the 14th over, with South Africa 86 for 4 and Dewald Brevis in full swing. Luckily, Smit didn't have to bowl to him at first but to Connor Esterhuizen, who was on 4 off five balls. On a pitch with good bounce, Smit went short and Esterhuizen was watchful. Then he went short again and Esterhuizen pulled to deep midwicket and suddenly, Namibia had their noses in front.
Brevis cut Smit for four later in the over to remind Namibia he was still there. Brevis kept South Africa in it with his 75 off 50 balls but he couldn't do it alone. When he was dismissed, with two overs to go, Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus had a difficult decision to make. South Africa needed 31 runs. Erasmus, Smit and Bernard Scholtz were the only bowlers with overs left, and so the captain decided he would do the hardest job. Erasmus bowled the 19th over, bowled Bjorn Fortuin and gave away only three runs. Even though South Africa needed 28 off the last over, with Duan Jansen in the middle, someone had to hold their nerve. That someone was Smit.
Tasked with delivering the final six balls, Smit was hit for two and then six by Jansen. South Africa needed 20 runs off three balls. Academic but Smit couldn't put a foot wrong. He nailed his yorker, and then tried it again, had Nqobani Mokoena caught at long-on and sent Windhoek into delirium when Subrayen was caught at deep midwicket to finish the game.
"I can't believe we beat the Proteas again," Smit said. "It's a really proud moment for Cricket Namibia and Namibia as a whole."
For Erasmus, who made the decisions that won the game, it was about more than just the moment itself. "This is very important in the sense that it shows we do belong and it wasn't a once-off. And none of our previous wins were once-offs. We've shown we can compete with the best," he said.
Namibia have beaten the likes of Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland but arguably their biggest win came at the 2022 T20 World Cup when they beat Sri Lanka in Geelong. Still, Namibia did not progress to the Super 12, and Sri Lanka did, so maybe these two wins over South Africa, however second-string they are, matter more. "We've shown it on home turf as well now," Erasmus said.
Crucially, the performance of Namibia's attack was stand-out, albeit that they were given a decent score to defend. Youngsters Jack Brassell and Max Heingo challenged batters with more international experience than they have, while Trumpelmann proved again he is world-class. His 3 for 24 follows on from his Player-of-the-Match performance last year when he took 3 for 28. Both times, he dismissed Rubin Hermann to add to Reeza Hendricks and Jason Smith last year and Pretorius and Brevis this time. That's not a shabby list at all, and makes Namibia an increasingly competitive side.
"We are a tough team to beat when everyone performs their specific role," Erasmus said. "Our aim is to get into the final and win that."
Namibia's next match is against Zimbabwe on Monday.