Lahore Qalandars and Lions to play Namibia T20 tri-series after Bengal withdraw
Richelieu Eagles, the Namibia men's development team, will take on Lahore Qalandars from Pakistan and DP World Lions from South Africa in the Global T20 Namibia tournament from September 1 to 5 at the Wanderers in Windhoek. Bengal, the Indian domestic side, were expected to be the fourth team in the contest, but they withdrew earlier this week.
The three teams will play two rounds of league games - six in total - before the top two teams play the final on September 5. Eagles and Qalandars will then stay on to play two 50-over matches on September 7 and 9.
Namibia national men's team captain, Gerhard Erasmus, will lead Eagles, who have a number of Namibia regulars in their line-up, including Jan Frylinck, Zane Green, Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Bernard Scholtz, Ruben Trumpelmann and JJ Smit. The tournament will act as preparation for Namibia ahead of the men's T20 World Cup in October-November in Australia
"We believe there is value in a team-based tournament creating the platform for future stars to be seen," Johan Muller, Cricket Namibia chief executive, said. "Inviting top domestic teams from prominent cricket nations will attract high domestic and international interest while delivering quality on-field entertainment.
"The purpose of the tournament is to aid our player development, World Cup preparations and player exposure, while creating a commercial product."
Defending PSL champions Qalandars will field a representative side, without their international players, and will be led by Hamza Nazar. Lions are yet to name their side.
Squads
Richelieu Eagles: Gerhard Erasmus (capt), Stephen Baard, Karl Birkenstock, Shaun Fouche, Jan Frylinck, Zane Green (wk), Divan La Cock, Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Lo-handre Louwrens (wk), Tangeni Lungameni, Mauritius Ngupita, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo, JJ Smit, Ruben Trumpelmann, Michael van Lingen, Pikkie Ya France
Lahore Qalandars: Hamza Nazar (capt), Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti, Aitizaz Habib Khan, Dilbar Hussain, Jalat Khan, Jehanzeb Naveed (wk), Mamoon Ur Riaz, Mansoor Saleem (wk), Mehboob Ur Rahman Usmani, Mirza Tahir Baig, Muhammad Naeem, Shane Dadswell, Sudais Khan, Usama Mir, Usman Khalid
DP World Lions: Yet to announce