Namibia will go for the kill in the first match of ICC World Cricket League Division II against Nepal on WAP in following convincing 5 wins in CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge. Host Namibia will face newly reformed Nepal in February. Namibia’s confidence must be flying high in the sky with solid preparation and apologist’s excitement. Their pace bowlers battery looked fully charged and it will be difficult for delicate Nepal’s batsmen to handle them in their own backyard.
27-year-old, Craig Williams will lead the host in this tournament. They will face courageous Nepal as their first challengers. Newly added young determined batsman Namibia, Pakky Ya France will be the host’s gem in the batting department followed by Raymond van Schoor, who has 18 List ‘A’ half-century behind his name. Schoor can play a long inning for the host as he has 5 century in First-class cricket as a evidence of his talent. Besides all of them, veteran batsmen and skipper of Namibia, Craig Williams, will be the most watchful player from Namibia. Literally, he is top-order batsman but this man can do the job with both bat as well as a ball for Namibia. His numbers are mouth-watering, 15 first-class centuries followed by 7 centuries in 50-overs format. He has altogether 219 wickets (FC, List A, and T20s) which includes a 5 five-wicket haul.
Sunday’s win against South Western Districts was Namibia’s third victory of 2018 in the CSA Provincial One-Day Challenge. It followed wins against Eastern (January 14) and Border (January 21). Namibia has won 5 and lost 2 games so far in the 2017-2018 CSA Provincial One- Day Challenge.
South Western Districts lost two early wickets before Sammy-Joe Avontuur (41) and Letlotlo Sesele added 103 for the third wicket. Avontuur was caught at the wicket early in the 26th over and Sesele was later caught behind for 76 with 153 on the board. South Western Districts innings ended all out for 214 after 44.4 overs. JJ Smit took 3/29 from 9.4 overs, Sarel Burger 2/38 from 10 overs and left-arm pacer Jan Fylinck 3/47 from 9 overs.
All five Namibian batsmen reached double figures as the target was reached after 35.5 overs. Opener Stephan Baard made 52 (63 balls), veteran all-rounder Craig Williams 52* (49 b), young
wicketkeeper Lohan Louwrens 45 (52 balls) and JJ Kotze 44* (37 b) in Namibia’s 216/3.
Jan Frylinck, a 23-year old left-hand bat, and left-arm seamer, hit 126* in Namibia’s win against Border on January 21. Border scored 287/7 from 50 overs and seemed to be on the road to victory with Namibia 69/5 after 15.1 overs. Gerhard Erasmus (32) and Frylinck added 75 for the sixth wicket. Frylinck then leads the way to victory after 48.2 overs, thanks to with support from Sarel Burger (22) and JJ Smit (25*).
The previous week, Frylinck batting at number 7 had hit 111* from 78 balls to propel Namibia to 288/7 from 50 overs against Eastern Province. Craig Williams made 77 in the middle order, and his sixth wicket stand with Frylinck was worth 106 runs from almost 18 overs. Seven Eastern Province players reached double-figures but Namibia pulled off a 20 run win when the last wicket fell after 47.3 overs Craig Williams ended the game with 4/43 from 8.3 overs.
Having South Africa as a neighbor had also seen Namibia playing in the CSA Sunfoil 3-Day Cup. Sunday’s one-day win against South Western Districts followed a draw in the Sunfoil Cup game. Namibia had lost to Border by 8 wickets in the 3-day game in East London before Namibia won the one-day contest. Namibia had double-success in Port Elizabeth earlier in January, winning both one-day and three-day games.
On the other side of the fence, Nepal are sitting pretty with both batting and bowling clicking in equal measure. The bowling has been put to its paces more than the batting has with wins by 25 runs and 93 runs respectively in first two practice matches against UAE (A). A win here and Nepal could open a sizeable lead in the tournament. Nepal might not have been in its greatest form but the inclusion of several young players will surely help them to start freshly. Some of their players had already played in Namibia back in 2015. We had already prepared Nepal’s report card of their preparatory camp. Read here if you missed it (http://cricketconcern.com/2018/02/03/nepals-report-card-preparatory-tour-batsmen/).
With host flying high on confidence, facing their toughest opponent, Nepal, the tournament is expected to commence on a high note. Nepal had surpassed Namibia in their last two meets. It was on Nepal’s home ground and now, Namibia is all set to host Nepal. Can host take epic revenge over Nepal?
