Mwatile siblings shine against Ireland

Namibia’s national women’s cricket team, Capricorn Eagles, lost their final match but completed a comfortable 4-2 victory against Ireland’s u19 women at the High-Performance Oval over the weekend. The visiting Irish team used the series as preparation for the u19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and Nepal in January, while for Namibia it also provided valuable practice and a chance to give upcoming young players more opportunities in the senior team. Top Namibian all-rounder Mekelaye Mwatile (21) was given the opportunity to captain the team in some matches when regular captain Sune Wittmann did not participate, and she rose to the occasion with some great performances to win the player of the series award. She already set the tone in the first T20 match on 25 October, scoring 51, while Wittmann scored 44 in a total of 140/3.

Ireland were then restricted to 95/6 with spinner Victoria Hamunyela taking 3/16 as Namibia closed out a comfortable win. The next day, Namibia were pushed all the way before winning a high-scoring thriller by two runs. Mwatile once again shone with the bat, scoring 53 not out off 47 balls (5×4, 1×6), while Kayleen Green added 25 and Edelle van Zyl 20 as Namibia reached 126/6. In reply, Ireland fell two runs short of the target, reaching 124/4 with Alice Tector scoring 52 not out. The third T20 match on 28 October was another thriller with Ireland eventually winning on a super over after the scores were tied. Mekelaye’s older sister Wilka Mwatile playing a starring role with both bat and ball. In Ireland’s innings of 138/7, she took three wickets for eight runs, and then in the run chase, scored 42 not out off 17 balls, including a six off the final ball to tie the match. In the fourth match on 28 October, it was once again Mekelaye’s turn to…