Namibia create history, storm into fourth consecutive T20 World Cup

From the African qualifiers, Namibia have emerged as the first side to qualify for the Men's ICC T20 World Cup 2026 after beating Tanzania in their semi-final contest on Thursday.

The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 is scheduled to be hosted by the World's most prestigious cricket board, BCCI, and will be co-hosted by the Sri Lankan Cricket Board. The Indians will be hosting the ICC event as the defending champions after having won it back in 2024.

Amid the qualifiers, the European qualifiers have already ended, while the African qualifiers mark the fight for the two top spots. Namibia has already sealed one of these spots, while South Africa is the third side that will be part of the T20 World Cup.

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Namibia qualify for their fourth consecutive ICC T20 World Cup

Namibia have become the first team to qualify for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 from the African qualifiers, after they beat Tanzania in the semi-final contest without much fuss in Harare.

They will be joined by either Zimbabwe or Kenya for the World Cup, who will face off in the other semi-final. South Africa, the runners-up of the previous World Cup final, on the other hand, has qualified directly.

This will be the fourth appearance at the men's T20 World Cup for Namibia, who had also taken part in the editions in 2021 (Super 12s), 2022 (group stage), and 2024 (group stage).

✅ 2021
✅ 2022
✅ 2024
✅ 2026

Namibia make it to a fourth straight men's T20 World Cup 🙌 pic.twitter.com/NR8SPkveo6

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 2, 2025

Gerhard Erasmus and JJ Smit's strong fifties help Namibia chase the total

The match played on Thursday marked Namibia batting first against Tanzania. They batted well and set up a challenging target of 175 runs for the Tanzania side. Several well-known figures of Namibian cricket, the captain Gerhard Erasmus and JJ Smit, all hit stunning fifties.

Namibia did not start very well, as their top order was cleaned early within the power play; however, Erasmus and Smit, together at that point, went on to score quickly to snatch the momentum.

Erasmus scored a breathtaking 55 off 41 balls, while Smit, on the other hand, scored 61* off just 43 balls and helped them see off the 20-overs till the end. Throughout the remainder of the match, they lost just 2 wickets.

Smit further helped Namibia with the ball, as he was responsible for picking the first two Tanzanian wickets and later finished the game with the figures of 3/16. Ben Shikongo was the other main wicket-taker for Namibia, returning 3 for 21.

Namibia to play in the Indian sub-continent for the first time

Namibia have qualified for their fourth consecutive ICC T20 World Cup main stage games since 2021. However, this will be the first time the African side will be playing in an ICC event on Indian soil.

Namibia have played on Australian soil and English soil, and in the previous World Cup, they played on American soil, when the USA and West Indies Cricket Boards co-hosted the events. However, the sub-continent tracks will be a relatively new experience for the African cricketers.

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