NamibiaSport

When Namibian cricket started 2010 on the back of a comprehensive defeat to the United Arab Emirates in the ICC Intercontinental Shield competition, the outlook was glum and few people could have foreseen the success that would lie in store. But the national team turned their performance around with commanding victories against Bermuda and Uganda, before going on to beat UAE on their home turf in Dubai to win the ICC Intercontinental Shield final in December.

Besides that, Namibian cricket received the highest recognition for its continued developmental efforts when it won the Best Overall Cricket Development Programme at the ICC Development Programme Annual Awards 2009, which was announced in March, 2010.

UAE beat Namibia

In December 2009, the UAE beat Namibia by four wickets in their four-day ICC Intercontinental Shield match in Windhoek, to join Uganda at the top of the four-nation log. Namibia got off to a solid start, scoring 369 in their first innings, with LP van der Westhuizen scoring 71, Sarel Burger 65, Wian van Vuuren 55 and Nicolaas Scholtz 41 runs.

The UAE looked set for a big total when they reached 238/4, but a superb spell of bowling by Louis Klazinga with the second new ball saw the UAE crashing to 297 all out, with Klazinga taking 5/61 off 25 overs.

Namibia started off strongly in their second innings with Raymond van Schoor (87) and Craig Williams (41) taking the total to 224/5, before UAE offspinner Mohammad Tauqir sparked a dramatic collapse. He finished with five wickets as Namibia lost their final five wickets for only 13 runs, to set the UAE a victory target of 310 runs.

Although Louis Klazinga gave Namibia hope after dismissing Arfan Haider for only 7 runs, the UAE captain Khurram Khan steered the visitors to victory with a superb century, while he received solid support from Fayyaz Ahmed (52).

The result put Namibia second last on the log, with only Bermuda below them.

Namibia crush Bermuda

In April, Namibia’s fortunes however changed dramatically as they beat Bermuda by an innings and 185 runs in Windhoek.

Namibia’s massive victory was built around a record-breaking partnership of 374 runs by their young opening batsmen Ewald Steenkamp and Raymond van Schoor.

After dismissing Bermuda for 214 in their first innings, the 19-year-old Van Schoor and 22-year-old Steenkamp set about building Namibia’s emphatic response.

Without taking undue risk the pair marched relentlessly past the Bermuda total, with both openers making centuries on their way to a record stand in Intercontinental Shield cricket, as well as an all-time Namibian record.

It was Steenkamp's first hundred at first-class level and he cashed in handsomely, converting to 206. The partnership finally ended when Van Schoor was dismissed for 157.

The pair had added 374 in 84.5 overs and made the match a formality for Namibia. Steenkamp faced 282 balls for his 206 (18x4, 1x6), while Van Schoor faced 245 balls for his 157 (8x4).

Further down the order, Craig Williams became Namibia’s third centurion, scoring a rapid 110 not out off only 74 balls (9x4, 3x6).

Except for their captain, David Hemp, who scored 65, Bermuda did not provide much resistance in their second innings as they crashed to 184 all out to hand Namibia a crushing victory.

Louis Klazinga was Namibia’s chief destroyer, taking 5/45 off 15 overs, while spinner Tobie Verwey weighed in with 2/49 off 16 overs, to record match figures of 7/95.

The victory saw Namibia moving up to second position on the ICC Intercontinental Shield Log on 26 points – just three points behind the log leaders Uganda. The United Arab Emirates followed in third position on 17 points, while Bermuda were bottom of the log on zero points.

Namibia crush Uganda

Namibia qualified for the final of the ICC Intercontinental Shield competition after beating Uganda by 10 wickets in Windhoek in September.

It was a crushing victory by the home side which was built around a great batting display that saw Namibia post a huge total of 609 runs, in reply to Uganda’s first innings total of 239 all out. With a deficit of 280 runs, Uganda could not recover and they were dismissed for 295 in their second innings, leaving Namibia the simple task of scoring 16 runs for victory.

Uganda were sent in to bat and scored 329 runs in their first innings. Lawrence Sematimba was Uganda’s best batsman, scoring 106 runs, while Craig Williams took 5/90 for Namibia.

On a wicket favouring the batsmen, Uganda’s total was however not enough and Namibia’s batsmen took control of the match. Ewald Steenkamp scored 87, Sarel Burger 68, Craig Williams 82, Gerrie Snyman 86, LP van der Westhuizen 50, Tobie Verwey 73 and Louis Klazinga 48 before they were all out for 609.

Namibia dismissed Uganda for 295 runs in their second innings, leaving the home side a victory target of 16 which Raymond van Schoor (2 not out) and Ewald Steenkamp (13 not out) quickly reached in four overs to win the match.

The result saw Namibia finishing first on the log as they booked a place in the ICC Intercontinental Shield final against the UAE from December 2 to 5.
In an extraordinary match of fluctuating fortunes Namibia survived a determined comeback by the United Arab Emirates to win the match by six wickets.

Namibia got off to a brilliant start to dismiss UAE for 79 in their first innings. Kola Burger was Namibia’s star bowler as he ripped through the UAE’s batting lineup to take career best figures of 7/38 off 13 overs.

Namibia seemed set for a big first innings lead at 267/3, but UAE struck back on the second morning to dismiss Namibia for 320. Namibian captain Craig Williams top scored with 116, while Sarel Burger added 73 and Ewald Steenkamp 66.

UAE staged a great fightback in their second innings to score 427 all out, with Saqib Ali scoring 160 not out while Swapnil Patil added 94 and Arshad Ali 50. Sarel Burger took 5/80 off 47 overs.

This left Namibia a victory target of 187 and with Craig Williams leading the way with 113 not out, they reached it with the loss of four wickets. Williams won the man of the match award while Namibia also won US$40 000.

Namibia’s chances of competing in the more prestigious ICC Intercontinental Cup competition now look good after the ICC announced that the I Cup will revert to an eight-team competition in 2011.

The six nations currently competing in the I Cup - Afghanistan, Ireland, Scotland, Kenya, Canada and Holland, will be joined by two more nations from the

top four teams of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL Div. 2) event which is scheduled for April 2011 in Dubai. 


Namibia struggles in CSA Challenge

Namibia however struggled in the Cricket South Africa Challenge competition where they competed against some of South Africa’s top provinces.

Namibia finished 12th out of 14 teams in the three-day competition and last out of 14 teams in the one-day competition, during the 2009/10 season.

Louis Klazinga, who took 48 wickets at an average of 23,08, was the third highest wicket taker in the three-day competition, while he came fifth in the One-Day competition with 20 wickets at an average of 22,85.

Craig Williams was Namibia’s top batsman in the three-day competition, finishing eighth with 860 runs at an average of 37,39. In the one-day competition, Raymond van Schoor finished tenth with 367 runs at an average of 36,70, while Williams came 11th with 356 runs at an average of 35,60.

Juniors win U19 African Qualifier

More success lay in store as Namibia’s national Under 19 team won all of its matches at the ICC Under 19 African qualifiers for the 2011 Under 19 World Cup, which was staged in Windhoek in September.

Namibia finished the tournament on top of the log with 14 points and will be joined by second-placed Kenya (10 points) at a second round of qualifiers for the World Cup early next year.

Namibia beat Botswana by 27 runs in their opening match, with Christopher Coombe scoring 48 and Bredell Wessels 46.

The next day, Namibia beat Zambia by 7 wickets, with Stephan Baard taking 4/35 and his brother Justin Baard scoring 45 runs.

Gerhard Lotter was the star of their crushing 191-run victory against Sierra Leone, scoring 152 off 130 balls as Namibia reached 263 off their 50 overs Namibia then ripped through Sierra Leone’s batting order to dismiss the whole team for 71 runs, with Christopher Coombe taking 4/26.

On September 1, Namibia comfortably beat Tanzania by five wickets, with Zhivago Groenewald taking 3/20 and then scoring 28 runs.

On September 3 Namibia beat Kenya by 24 runs, with Gerhard Lotter scoring 52 in their total of 188/9. Kenya were then dismissed for 164 with Luke Bolton taking 3/24.

On September 4, Namibia scored 260/8 against Uganda, with Gerhard Lotter scoring 54 and Gerhard Erasmus 49. Uganda were then dismissed for 141 with Christopher Coombe taking 3/10 and Zhivago Groenewald 2/25

Namibia concluded their tournament in style, crushing Nigeria by 258 runs.
Namibia batted first, scoring 343/6 off 50 overs with Wian van Vuuren scoring 92, Zhivago Groenewald 80 and Gerhard Erasmus 40. Nigeria were then dismissed for a paltry 88, with Wian van Vuuren taking 4/29.