Co-hosts Namibia and South Africa embark on final lap of road to 2027 men's ODI World Cup

Namibia will get a measure of where they stand while South Africa get a chance to look at the wider group in the three-ODI series

Big Picture: Another first for Africa

In what has been a ground-breaking few weeks for African cricket, there will be another first as Namibia host South Africa for three men's ODIs. The teams have never met in the fifty-over format before and while the series is more symbolic than anything else - these are two of the three co-hosts of next year's men's ODI World Cup - there is also plenty to be gained.

For Namibia, the benefits are obvious. None of their current squad has ever played an ODI against a Full-Member side, and the last time the team itself did, was 23 years ago. The experience they gain over the next week will be invaluable in their quest to qualify for the tournament they are co-hosting, though it will take a massive effort.

Namibia are currently fifth on the eight-team CWC League 2, with four matches left to play. To make it into the top four, they have to beat USA and UAE, who they will play in the USA later this year. If they succeed, they will be automatic entrants to the World Cup Qualifier, which will be held in February-March 2027. If they don't, they will enter a qualifier play-off and will need to finish in the top four there to then advance to the global qualifier. If they reach the qualifier itself, they also need to finish in the top four, to actually get to the World Cup. Then, there is the added layer of avoiding ending up in the bottom two of CWC League 2, which could put Namibia's ODI status at risk.RelatedMiller, de Kock, Coetzee in South Africa squad for Australia ODIs

Namibia cricket chair urges Associates to look at 'bigger picture'

All this comes even though Namibia leadership appears to be taking the pragmatic approach to their cricketing future and prioritising T20 as the main growth area. Still, with a home ODI World Cup, Namibia want to give themselves a chance of not being spectators and this will serve as a good measure of what they can do.

South Africa don't have those pressures but will use this as the start of their exploration into what a World Cup ODI squad can look like though it's clear they are taking the wide lens here. They announced a much-closer-to-full-strength squad for the Australia ODIs that follow later this month, with only the left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin and batter Tony de Zorzi continuing from Namibia to that contest. Matthew Breetzke and Corbin Bosch, who are replacement players in the Namibia squad, will also play against Australia. For the rest, these matches are an opportunity to show what they can do and put themselves under consideration for the Bangladesh and England ODI series which follow this summer.

South Africa have made no secret of their desire for the home ODI World Cup to be "the one" they finally win, and the journey to that starts here.Jan Frylinck has scored two hundreds and four fifties in his last 11 ODIs•Cricket Namibia

Form Guide

Namibia: WWLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)

South Africa: LWLLW

In the spotlight: Jan Frylinck and

Cape Town-born opening batter Jan Frylinck was Namibia's leading run-scorer in the T20I tri-series and third overall with two half-centuries and has shown no fear against his former countrymen. Frylinck is a big-hitter with a lot of range and plenty of form which makes him one to keep an eye on in this series. In his last 11 ODIs, he has scored two centuries and four fifties and has managed that in a variety of different conditions including King City, Windhoek and Utrecht. For South Africa's young attack, who are still learning how to balance the desire to look for wickets with how to build pressure, facing Frylinck will be an excellent test.

Arguably, the South African with the most to prove in this series is Dewald Brevis who is not part of the ODI squad against Australia and has been left in no doubt about where he stands. "He competes for a spot in the middle-order with Matthew Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs and David Miller," South Africa head coach Shukri Conrad said, which means Brevis needs to be able to post big runs like they have. In nine ODIs so far, Brevis has scored 230 runs with one fifty but has plenty of List A pedigree. In the 2024/25 season, Brevis was the second leading run-scorer with the second highest strike-rate and he will want to replicate that form as he comes into consideration for ODIs later in the summer.

Team news

Top-order batter Michael van Lingen has come out of retirement and should slot back into the XI, albeit perhaps not as an opener. The combination of Jan Frylinck and Louren Steenkamp worked well in the T20Is and could continue, with Namibia batting as deep as No.8. The young seamers Jack Brassell and Max Heingo could form a four-man pace attack with Ruben Trumpelmann and JJ Smit.

Namibia: 1 Jan Fryclink, 2 Louren Steenkamp, 3 Michael van Lingen, 4 Gerhard Erasmus (capt), 5 Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, 6 JJ Smit, 7 Zane Green (wk), 8 Ruben Trumpelmann, 9 Bernard Scholtz, 10 Jack Brassell, 11 Max HeingoThis series will be key for Dewald Brevis with race for the middle-order spots in South Africa's ODI team heating up•AFP/Getty Images

Jason Smith, who was initially named in South Africa's T20I squad but then was ruled out with an injury, is back and could get an opportunity immediately. Tony de Zorzi, who had a lean T20I series, could also get an extended run to prove his form while Duan Jansen and Eathan Bosch will provide all-round skills. With Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Andile Simelane out, South Africa added Matthew Breetzke and Corbin Bosch to the squad, but they may have to wait their turn ahead of those who were in the initial group.

South Africa: (possible) 1 Jordann Hermann, 2 Connor Esterhuizen (wk), 3 Tony de Zorzi, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 Jason Smith, 6 Rubin Hermann, 7 Duan Jansen, 8 Eathan Bosch, 9 Bjorn Fortuin (capt), 10 Kwena Maphaka, 11 Nqobani Mokoena

Pitch and conditions

Seven T20Is were played at the Namibia Cricket Ground over the last two weeks and most followed a similar pattern: run-scoring was fast and fluent upfront and the middle-overs became trickier. This may mean longer periods of time where batting slows down and the spinners could have more of a role to play. Generally, the surfaces have had good bounce and carry but there has not been much swing through the air which will prove an interesting test of seamers' skills. The weather is expected to be pleasant throughout, with temperatures nearing 30 degrees in mid-afternoon.

Stats and Trivia

Namibia have only played ODIs against five Full Members: Zimbabwe, Pakistan, England, India and Australia, all at the 2003 ODI World Cup.

Gerhard Erasmus, Namibia's captain, is their only player to have more than 2,000 runs in ODI cricket. Their next highest run-scorer is Michael van Lingen, who has come out of retirement, and is on 1,412 runs.

South Africa's last ODI series win was a year ago, when they beat England 2-1 last September. They lost both their next series, in Pakistan and India.