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- South African cricket hit another low on Wednesday when the emerging team lost their first 50-over game against Namibia by five wickets.
- This comes after they also lost the T20 series to the hosts.
- Malibongwe Maketa's side has two more 50-over matches to salvage the tour.
South Africa's Emerging men's team's tour of Namibia is not going as planned after the team suffered another defeat against their hosts.
On Wednesday, they lost the first 50-over match by five wickets after not being able to defend 244 at the Wanderers ground in Windhoek.
This defeat comes hot on the heels of the 2-1 T20 series loss to the same team, with the hosts winning that series after losing the first game.
The South African emerging team won the first T20 by five wickets where Jason Smith top-scored with 48 as they chased down 168.
But the hosts have since turned the tour on its head by chasing down 191 in the second T20, before taking it a step further by piling up 230/6 in the third T20. They bowled SA out for 139 to win the game by a very comfortable 91 runs.
They followed that shortest format comeback with the five-wicket win with 31 balls to spare, a win that was anchored by Gerhard Erasmus's 108.
The SA emerging team consists of several young franchise players and the team is captained by Sinethemba Qeshile and also has promising youngsters like Jonathan Bird and Bryce Parsons.
The left-handed duo were South Africa Under-19's best batters at last year's Under-19 World Cup - a tournament in which South Africa struggled.
The side is also coached by Malibongwe Maketa, who was an assistant to Ottis Gibson at the Proteas.
It is a worrying set of results considering how the men's national team has been struggling under Mark Boucher.
It also remains to be seen whether they will be able to overturn the first defeat in the second 50-over game that takes place on Thursday before the series and tour concludes with the third game on Saturday.
South Africa Emerging Men’s squad: Stefan Tait, Thando Ntini, Grant Roelofsen, Joshua Richards, Jonathan Bird, Jason Smith, Tshepo Ntuli, Kabelo Sekhukhune, Lifa Ntanzi, Matthew Breetzke, Dayyaan Galiem, Bryce Parsons, Sinethemba Qeshile, Wandile Makwetu, Gregory Mahlokwana, Delano Potgieter.
