JP Kotze led Namibia in a 16-ball chase against Canada

Namibia completed their shortest-ever successful run-chase in T20I cricket with a thumping win over Canada in Windhoek today (March 22).

In a rain-affected game in Windhoek, Namibia reduced Canada to 42-7 off the 13 overs the match had been shortened to per innings. JJ Smit took the fourth-best figures in Namibia's T20I history of 4-9 in a complete blitz of Canada's top order.

He dismissed Aaron Johnson with the first ball of the match, before Tangeni Lungameni got rid of Ajayveer Hundal in the next over. Smit struck again in his second over, leaving Canada 5-3, before then dismissing Nicholas Kirton in his next. Kanwarpal Tathgur became Canada's fifth wicket to fall before Ravinderpal Singh became the sixth four balls later. By the 38th ball of the innings, Canada were 18-6.

However, a 17-run stand between Saad Bin Zafar and Harsh Thaker led a brief recovery, and Canada made it to 42-7 in 13 overs before the rain came down, to bring an end to their innings. After Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculations, Namibia's target was set at 42.

When opener JP Kotze came to the crease, he unleashed on the Canada bowlers to set a new record. After facing a dot and then taking two off his first two balls at the crease, he hit a six and two fours off Kaleem Sana's next three balls to get the chase going. Two more boundaries followed in the next over, before he found the winning runs with a leg bye off the fourth ball of the third over to complete the chase in no time at all.

Chasing down the required runs in just 16 balls is a new record for Namibia in men's T20Is. It's also joint 13th on the list of all-time T20I shortest successful chases, ranked alongside Australia's win over Turkey in 2019 when they scored 33-0 off 16 balls. The shortest successful men's T20I chase of all time belongs to Spain, who chased down a target of 11 against the Isle of Man in two balls.

Full list: Shortest successful chases by Namibia in men's T20Is

Opposition Score Balls Ground Year
Canada 42-0 16 Windhoek 2025
Botswana 50-0 23 Kampala 2019
Ghana 92-1 65 Kampala 2019
Botswana 86-2 67 Windhoek 2019
Tanzania 72-3 75 Accra 2024
Bermuda 111-4 79 ICCA 2 Dubai 2019
Nigeria 96-2 80 Windhoek 2023
Zimbabwe 122-3 82 Windhoek 2023
Zimbabwe 134-3 88 Windhoek 2023
Uganda 135-3 89 Windhoek 2021

Full list: Shortest successful chases in men's T20Is

Team Score Balls Opposition Ground Year
Spain 13-0 2 Isle of Man Cartagena 2023
Singapore 13-1 5 Mongolia Bangi 2024
Tanzania 19-0 5 Mali Dar-es-Salaam 2024
Japan 27-0 8 Mongolia Sano 2024
Hong Kong 18-1 10 Mongolia Kuala Lumpur 2024
St Helena 27-0 12 Ivory Coast Abuja 2024
Malaysia 35-0 13 Mongolia Bangi 2024
Botswana 35-0 13 Ivory Coast Abuja 2024
Ghana 27-0 14 Mali Dar-es-Salaam 2024
Kenya 34-0 15 Mali Kigali 2022
Rwanda 34-0 15 Mali Kigali 2022
Kenya 40-0 15 Mali Benoni 2023
Austria 33-0 16 Turkey Ilfov County 2019
Namibia 42-0 16 Canada Windhoek 2025
Oman 40-1 17 Philippines Al Amerat 2022
Sierra Leone 41-2 17 Mali Benoni 2023
Malawi 31-1 17 Cameroon Dar-es-Salaam 2024
Nigeria 51-0 17 Botswana Rwanda 2024
Bahrain 28-0 17 Indonesia Bali 2025
P.N.G. 60-0 18 Vanuatu Port Moresby 2019
Tanzania 38-1 18 Cameroon Dar-es-Salaam 2024

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