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Innocent Kaias Career-Best 72 Powers Zimbabwe to Five-Wicket Win Over Namibia

Innocent Kaia struck a career-best 72 for Zimbabwe in a five-wicket victory over hosts Namibia in a Twenty20 tri-series match on Thursday. Put in to bat in Windhoek, Namibia made 156-6, thanks mainly to an unbeaten 88 from captain Gerhard Erasmus. Zimbabwe reached 159-5 with 11 balls remaining. Kaia, batting at No.3, had fruitful partnerships of 61 with Brian Bennett and 54 with captain Sikandar Raza as Zimbabwe completed a double over Namibia after a five-run win on Monday. Kaia struck three sixes and eight fours from 42 balls before his mistimed pull off a Jack Brassell delivery was caught by Erasmus at mid on. It is great contributing significantly to a victory. I planned to be aggressive and take on the Namibian bowlers. It paid off, player-of-the-match award winner Kaia told reporters. Like Kaia, Erasmus struck three sixes and eight fours in his knock. His 83-run fourth-wicket stand with Alexander Busing-Volschenk (29) was the highlight of the innings. Brief scores Namibia 156-6 in 20 overs (G. Erasmus 88 not out, A. Busing-Volschenk 29 not out; B. Evnns 2-29, K. Matigimu 2-31) v Zimbabwe 159-5 in 18.1 overs (I. Kaia 72, S. Raza 29; R. Trumpelmann 2-41) Result: Zimbabwe won by five wickets Toss: Zimbabwe Also Read: Special Cricket Stories Friday: Namibia v South Africa (1200 GMT)