Fortuin, Hermann, Esterhuizen headline South Africa's 3-0 sweep of Namibia

South Africa completed a clean sweep of their neighbours Namibia to head into their home season on a high. They chased a modest target of 157 inside 22 overs in the third ODI to take the series 3-0 and leave Namibia with plenty to think about ahead of their last World Cricket League 2 fixtures against USA and UAE later this year.

South Africa's stand-in captain Bjorn Fortuin bagged a career-best 4 for 33 to complete a successful tour, both personally and as a captain. He also led South Africa to the T20I tri-series trophy and was the second-highest wicket-taker in that series. Legspinner Nqabayomzi Peter picked up 2 for 39 as spin proved more threatening despite both sides stacking themselves with four quicks.

Namibia's batting, which has struggled throughout the series, was once again found wanting. Alexander Busing-Volschenk continued to show promise with 31 at the top of the order while a 31-run last-wicket stand between Zane Green and Max Heingo took Namibia over 150. That was never going to be enough, even though South Africa went into the match a batter short.

After bowling first in the previous two matches, Namibia changed approach and opted to put runs on the board. They were immediately tested by a South African attack that made good use of the extra bounce on offer and lost Michael van Lingen to a hook shot in the fourth over. Van Lingen only scored two runs in two matches in the series and was beaten for pace by Corbin Bosch. Kwena Maphaka was rewarded for a good set-up when he followed up a series of short balls to Jan Frylinck with a full one that shaped in and went through the bat-pad gap to bowl the Namibian No.3.

Busing-Volschenk rode the early wave of attack and pulled off two cracking shots off Bosch, and with the new-ball bowlers off, Namibia could rebuild. Busing-Volschenk and Louren Steenkamp put on 53 for the third wicket, and though their scoring rate was slow, they were settling well. After bowling two economical overs after the powerplay, Fortuin changed ends to bowl the 21st over, found good drift and beat Steenkamp in flight to get his first wicket. Busing-Volschenk was run out off the next ball and Namibia were in trouble on 73 for 4.

Fortuin's fourth came when he bowled Waldo Smith with a delivery that stayed straight as the 18-year-old played for turn and was bowled. Fortuin had two overs left to get a fifth but that didn't happen as Peter had Jack Brassell caught behind before Heingo took 14 runs off his last three balls and hit Fortuin for six. Green joined in on the fun when he reverse-swept Fortuin and pulled Bosch for twin fours, but when he tried to drive a Maphaka slower ball aerially, he was caught by a diving Fortuin. Namibia were bowled out inside 37 overs.

South Africa needed just over half that number of overs to reach the target. Hermann signalled their intent when he slashed the last ball of Trumpelmann's opening over through backward point for four. He continued to show his strength on the offside with an array of drives and cuts. The highlights reel will run as a perfect complement to the century he scored on debut earlier in the series, which was laced with leg-side shots.

Hermann was on 29 off 19 balls after five overs, while Esterhuizen, on 5 off 11 took his time to get in. His first boundary came off an outside edge that fell short of slip but he quickly found his feet. Hermann offered the best chance when he edged Brassell but Green, behind the stumps, could not hold on.

The introduction of spin in the form of Erasmus did not have the same effect as it did in Namibia's innings. Both batters took on the Namibian captain and Hermann reached fifty off him, forcing Erasmus to go back to pace. Smith, playing in his second match, had another nervy time when Hermann went after his short ball but also induced a genuine edge from him that raced to the third man boundary for four.

Esterhuizen's scoring rate increased substantially and he reached fifty off 53 balls. South Africa then needed 31 runs off 32 overs and were in a rush to get it done. Namibia had one moment of joy in the field when Smith got his first ODI wicket when he yorked Hermann. Dewald Brevis sealed the win with a massive six.