Namibia’s skipper, Gerhard Erasmus, set an unwanted record during their ICC T20 World Cup 2024 match against Australia at Sir Viv Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua. After Australian captain Mitchell Marsh won the toss and opted to bowl first, Namibia struggled early, and Erasmus came in to bat in the 3.4 over with the score at 15/2.
Erasmus faced a challenging innings, managing to score his first run only on the third ball of the 9th over, after facing 16 deliveries. He achieved this with a single off Adam Zampa’s low full toss, which brought a smile to the skipper’s face.
This innings marked a milestone as Erasmus took the most balls (16) to open his scoring account in T20I cricket since ball-by-ball data became available in 2005. The previous record-holder was Kenya’s Tanmay Mishra, who took 15 balls to score his first run against Pakistan in a quadrangular series in September 2007.
Despite Erasmus’ effort, Namibia struggled and eventually collapsed for a mere 72 runs. Erasmus scored 36 runs but took 43 balls.
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