Namibia beat Ireland by five wickets with 172 balls remaining in the fifth ODI at the High Performance Oval in Windhoek on 1 November 2026, taking the series 3-2. JJ Smit, the player of the match, took 4/20 from nine overs as Ireland were bowled out for 129.
How It Unfolded
Ireland won the toss and chose to bat. Jordan Neill top-scored with 33 off 25 balls, hitting four fours and a six before he was out lbw. Cade Carmichael made 27 off 57 balls, Harry Tector 21 off 35 and Lorcan Tucker 20 off 14 with two sixes. Andy Balbirnie managed 9 off 24 balls and Gavin Hoey 9 off 19.
Smit's figures of 9-3-20-4 did most of the damage. Jack Brassell added 3/15 from 6.1 overs, while Max Heingo took 1/23 and Willem Myburgh 1/24.
Chasing 130, Namibia reached 131/5 in 21.2 overs. Louren Steenkamp led the way with 46 off 44 balls, with six fours and a six, before he was run out. Gerhard Erasmus struck 30 off 18 balls. Michael van Lingen and Malan Kruger both made 15 off 20 balls, and Zane Green finished the chase on 11 not out off four balls, with a four and a six. Matthew Humphreys took 2/48 from 7.2 overs for Ireland, with Hoey taking 1/27 and Jai Moondra 1/35.
The Oracle's Call
Before the toss, the CricMind Oracle locked Ireland as favourites at 54%, with Namibia at 46%, so the call was missed. Ireland were rated tenth on 1224 against Namibia's 1050 in fifteenth, although the model gave Namibia 140 rating points for playing at home. You can read the full Oracle call.
What's Next
That was the last match of the series. Ireland won the first ODI by 55 runs, Namibia took the second by 31 runs and the third by 63 runs, and Ireland levelled with a 130-run win in the fourth. The fifth-match result gave Namibia a 3-2 series win. The full results are on the Ireland tour of Namibia 2026/27 hub.
Source: Scorecard and the Oracle call.