Christoffel "Christi" Viljoen (born 28 September 1987) is a cricketer who plays for the Namibia national team. He bats right-handed and bowls right-arm medium-fast. He has also played for

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

in domestic cricket in New Zealand.

Career

Viljoen made his first-class debut for Namibia in the CSA Provincial Three-Day Challenge competition held in South Africa on 21 January 2010 against

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

. He also made his T20 debut (along with 9 other players in Namibia) against Zimbabwe on 13 February 2010. Opening the bowling with

Louis Klazinga Louis Klazinga (born 4 December 1985) is a Namibian cricketer. After playing for Eldoraigne High School in Centurion, Gauteng, he first played for Namibia in October 2006 as a pace bowler and tail-end batsman, in the South African Airways Three ...

, Viljoen took a single wicket (that of

Sikandar Raza Sikandar Raza Butt (} ; born 24 April 1986) is a Pakistani-born Zimbabwean international cricketer, who plays all formats primarily as a batter. Born in Sialkot, Raza emigrated to Zimbabwe in 2002 along with his family. He soon became one of t ...

) for seven runs. He played six matches in the tournament, scoring 61 runs from three innings with a highest of 41, and took six wickets at an average of 16.83. After experimenting with a two-division format the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

decided that the 2011–13 ICC Intercontinental Cup would feature eight teams, including Namibia who were previously in the Shield competition, playing first-class cricket. Namibia played their opening fixture of the Cup in September. Batting at number three Viljoen scored a four-ball duck in the first innings but in the second managed 87 from 136 balls, in the process passing 500 first-class runs in his career and beating his previous highest score in the format. A side made up of some of the leading players from Associate and Affiliate teams was put together to face England in Dubai in January 2012. The three-day match was part of England's preparation for a series against Pakistan later that month. Along with Craig Williams, Viljoen was one of two Namibia players included in the 12-man squad. Coming in to bat at 90/6, Viljoen top-scored with 98 runs from 189 balls against a bowling line-up including

James Anderson James Anderson may refer to: Arts *James Anderson (American actor) (1921–1969), American actor *James Anderson (author) (1936–2007), British mystery writer *James Anderson (English actor) (born 1980), British actor * James Anderson (filmmaker) ...

Stuart Broad Stuart may refer to: Names *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) Automobile *Stuart (automobile) Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, connecting South Australia and the Northern Territory Norther ...

Steven Finn Steven Thomas Finn (born 4 April 1989) is an English cricketer. He is a right-arm fast bowler, who also bats right-handed. At the age of 16, he became Middlesex County Cricket Club's youngest-ever debutant in first-class cricket. He made his E ...

, and

Graeme Swann Graeme Peter Swann (born 24 March 1979) is an English former cricketer who played all three formats of the game. Born in Northampton, he attended Sponne School in Towcester, Northamptonshire. He was primarily a right-arm off-spinner, and also ...

. The UAE hosted the 2012 World Twenty20 Qualifier in March. Namibia progressed to the preliminary finals where they lost to Ireland. With 14 wickets from 9 matches, Viljoen was Namibia's leading wicket-taker in the tournament (equal fourth overall), and scored 48 runs from 5 innings. Shortly after the tournament concluded, Namibia hosted

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in the Intercontinental Cup. Namibia won by eight wickets and in the second innings Viljoen finished with career-best bowling figures of 7/61. In January 2018, he was named in Namibia's squad for the

2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two was a cricket tournament that took place in February 2018 in Namibia. The United Arab Emirates won the tournament, after beating Nepal by 7 runs in the final. Canada and Namibia finished third and fourth ...

tournament. He was the joint-leading wicket-taker for Otago in the 2018–19 Super Smash, with thirteen dismissals in seven matches. In March 2019, he was named in Namibia's squad for the

2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two The 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two was an international cricket tournament that took place in April 2019 in Namibia. It was contested between six teams; Canada, Hong Kong, Oman, Papua New Guinea, the United States and tournament hos ...

tournament. Namibia finished in the top four places in the tournament, therefore gaining

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) status. Viljoen made his ODI debut for Namibia on 27 April 2019, against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

, in the tournament's final. In May 2019, he was named in Namibia's squad for the

Regional Finals In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

of the

2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier The 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier was the tournament played as part of qualification process for the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. Twelve regional qualifiers were held by the International Cricket Council (ICC), with 62 teamsZambia were ...

tournament in Uganda. He made his

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) debut for Namibia against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

on 20 May 2019. In Namibia's third match of the tournament, against

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

, Viljoen took his first five-wicket haul in a T20I match, finishing with figures of five wickets for nine runs from his four overs. He finished as the leading wicket-taker in the Regional Finals, with nine dismissals in three matches. However, following the conclusion of the tournament, the

(ICC) suspended Viljoen for four matches, after he breached the ICC's Anti-Racism Code during the match against

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. In June 2019, he was one of twenty-five cricketers to be named in

Cricket Namibia The Namibia Cricket Board, known commercially as Cricket Namibia, is the official Sport governing body, governing body of the sport of cricket in Namibia. Its current headquarters is in Windhoek, Namibia. Cricket Namibia is Namibia's representa ...

's Elite Men's Squad ahead of the 2019–20 international season. In September 2019, he was named in Namibia's squad for the

2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament held during October and November 2019 in the United Arab Emirates to determine which teams would qualify for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. The six teams finishing ...

tournament in the United Arab Emirates. Ahead of the tournament, the

(ICC) named him as the player to watch in Namibia's squad.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Viljoen, Christi 1987 births Living people White South African people Namibian Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent Cricketers from Pretoria Namibian cricketers Namibia One Day International cricketers Namibia Twenty20 International cricketers Otago cricketers