Maqonda Ndlovu
The Richelieu Eagles succumbed to a seven-wicket defeat to the Netherlands in their second 50-over match of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup League 2 tournament currently underway in Nepal yesterday.
Having won their opening match against the hosts on Thursday last week by four wickets, Namibia’s bowling line-up was torn apart by Netherlands bowler Aryan Dutt, who registered impressive figures of six wickets for just 34 runs (6/34) in the first innings.
The Dutch won the toss and elected to field first, and the off-spinner tore through the Eagles’ batting lineup, at one point boasting an impressive 5/12 in his first 18 balls to spark a Namibian collapse.
Vice captain JJ Smit top-scored with 26 runs from 46 balls, while openers JP Kotze and Nico Davin could only manage five and thirteen runs, respectively.
Zane Green, Ruben Trumpelmann, and Bernard Scholtz led a mini-revival at the tail end, but the Dutch took the game by the scruff of the neck to restrict Namibia to 123 runs from 35.1 overs.
In response, the Dutch did not break a sweat as they strolled to 124/3 in 27.3 overs, with opener Michael Levitt scoring 57 runs from 81 balls.
He was supported by Max O’Dowd, who knocked 28 runs from 42 balls, and Bas de Leede, who scored a quickfire 21 runs from 20 balls.
For Namibian bowlers, Trumpelmann and Scholtz took one and two wickets each while conceding 22 and 29 runs, respectively.
Trumpelmann bowled five overs, while Scholtz bowled nine.
Meanwhile, in the first match against Nepal, Namibia won the toss and elected to field first, while youngster Jack Thomas Brassell made his senior debut.
The Eagles bowled out the host for 132 runs in the 50 overs, with man of the match captain Gerhard Erasmus taking 5/28.
In response, Namibia scored 134/6 in 33.1 overs.
Jan Frylinck and Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton top-scored with 34 and 31 runs, respectively.
This is the first of 24 tri-series that will take four teams to within one step of qualifying for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 to be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.
Canada, Oman, Scotland, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America are the other teams in the eight-team league that will comprise 144 matches in the lead-up to the World Cup Qualifier.
The top four teams from League 2 will make it to the World Cup Qualifier. They will be joined by four teams coming through the Qualifier Play-Offs, as well as teams that don’t automatically qualify based on the ICC ODI Rankings.
Namibia will next play Nepal tomorrow, before facing the Netherlands on Thursday in the final match of the tri-series. – jrnmarko@gmail.com