Suné Wittmann will captain a maturing Namibia Capricorn Eagles team at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier in Nepal from 18 January.
The team is quite young, with about half still under 23, but despite their youth they have built up a lot of experience over the past few years.
Three members of the 15-player squad have already won more than 100 caps for Namibia, while six more have more than 50 caps, with three now approaching their centuries.
Wittmann is a key player for Namibia, in terms of her all-round performances, her experience and captaincy.
She made her international T20 debut seven years ago and soon cemented her place as a reliable opening batter and seam bowler, while she is now approaching her century of caps for her country, having played in 97 T20 internationals.
She has scored 1 656 runs at an average of 18,81, including nine 50s and a top score of 93 not out.
As a bowler she has picked up 53 wickets at an average of 15,58, with a best performance of 5 for 10 runs.
Yasmeen Khan is the most capped player with 113 caps, while she is also Namibia’s top run scorer, with close to 2 000 runs and a highest score of 78 not out.
The other centurions in the team are all-rounders Kayleen Green and Arrasta Diergaardt with 105 and 104 caps respectively.
Wilka Mwatile with 99 caps and Sylvia Shihepo with 96 are also closing in on their centuries, while Merczerly Gorases (79 caps), Victoria Hamunyela (69), Edelle van Zyl (62) and Mekelaye Mwatile (56) have passed the 50-mark.
In fact, the only novice in the team is left-arm spinner Leigh-Marie Visser, with five caps, while all the others have more than 20 caps.
Namibia is one of ten nations that will battle it out for a place amongst the top four teams that will qualify for the T20 World Cup in England in June.
Namibia which is ranked 18th in T20 cricket in the world, has the third lowest ranking amongst the 10 teams, with only Nepal (21) and USA (25) below them.
Ireland is the highest ranked nation at ninth in the world, followed by Bangladesh (10), Scotland (11), Thailand (12), Papua New Guinea (13), The Netherlands (14) and Zimbabwe (15).
The Eagles, meanwhile, will play a four-match seriers against the state side Assam, as part of their preparations.
The series forms part of a reciprocal agreement between Cricket Namibia and the Assam Cricket Association, which saw Assam’s senior men’s side touring Namibia last year.
Namibia will take on the Assam senior women’s team in two 50-over matches as well as two T20 matches, with the first match starting on Thursday.
The Namibian squad is as follows:
Suné Wittmann (captain), Naomi Benjamin, Arrasta Diergaardt, Kayleen Green, Merczerly Gorases, Victoria Hamunyela, Yasmeen Khan, Eveleen Kejarukua, Mekelaye Mwatile, Wilka Mwatile, Bianca Manuel, Sylvia Shihepo, Saima Tuhadeleni, Edelle van Zyl, Leigh-Marie Visser.
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