Namibia and Zimbabwe qualify for 2026 T20 World Cup

Namibia and Zimbabwe have booked their places at the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup after reaching the final of the African qualifying tournament in Harare.

Namibia beat Tanzania by 63 runs in their semi-final to reach a fourth successive edition of the finals.

Hosts Zimbabwe then cruised to a seven-wicket victory over Kenya to qualify for the first time since 2022.

Kenya won the toss and elected to bat first, and ended on 122-6 thanks largely to Rakep Patel's innings of 65 from 47 balls.

Brian Bennett top scored with 51 off 25 as the Chevrons chased down their target with five overs to spare.

Namibia and Zimbabwe will meet in the tournament final on Saturday, with both sides knowing they will travel to India and Sri Lanka next year.

In the opening match earlier on Thursday, Namibia had slipped to 41-4 against Tanzania but a partnership of 88 runs between captain Gerhard Erasmus (55 off 41) and JJ Smit (61 not out off 43) helped the Eagles post 174-6.

All-rounder Smit then took 3-16 and Ben Shikongo recorded figures of 3-21 to help restrict the East Africans to 111-8 in reply.

Namibia beat the Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland on their T20 World Cup debut in the UAE and Oman in 2021 before exiting in the Super 12s.

The side, however, failed to get past the initial group stage at the 2022 and 2024 editions of the tournament.

Twenty nations will contest next year's World Cup which will be held from 7 February to 8 March.