Longer route to qualifying awaits Eagles

The FNB Eagles’ slim chances of breaking into the top four of the ICC Cricket World Cup League Two log standings were dealt another blow when they were comprehensively beaten by Scotland in the last of the triangular one-day matches in Windhoek on Sunday.

Finishing in their current fifth position on the standings would mean that Namibia would need to play an extra qualifying tournament before the Final Global Qualifier for the 2027 ICC World Cup – of which Namibia will be a co-host.

As things stand, the USA (36 points), Scotland (34), Oman (29) and Netherlands (28) all appear to be relatively safe from being overtaken by Namibia (22) or Canada (21) in their remaining fixtures, with Nepal (12) and United Arab Emirates (10) the bottom two.

On Sunday, the Namibian top order struggled to get going until number five Louren Steenkamp again passed the fifty mark (67 off 99 balls; 4x4 1x6) and found support from captain JJ Smit (43 of 68 balls) at number seven.

The Namibian total of 198 all out in 49 overs were however insufficient to challenge the strong Scotland batting line-up, as number three Brandon McMullen (retired hurt for 100 off 92 balls; 9x4 4x6) and his captain Richie Berrington (43 off 59 balls; 3x4 2x6) made the chase look easy.

For Namibia, Ruben Trumpelmann removed both openers George Munsey (0 off 2) and Finlay McCreath (2), before McMullen and Berrington came together for a 112-run stand.

The all-rounder McMullen was assured of being named player of the match, after also taking three wickets for 47 runs in 8 overs.

• Out of the possible eight log points on offer in the triangular series, Namibia added three, including one shared point for their first match against Scotland that was abandoned halfway due to rain.

Last Friday, Namibia earned their only win of the series in dramatic fashion, as Zane Green steered them home after chasing Oman’s total of 218 for nine.

Jan Frylinck (84 off 93 balls) hit eight fours and two sixes in the biggest contribution to bring the Eagles to within striking distance of their target.

However, Oman’s fiery pace bowler Muhammad Imran (5/39 in 10) and his colleagues kept taking the home side’s wickets until it came down to last man Jack Brassell joining Zane Green.

The left-handed Green impressively back himself to score two runs and two runs off the first two balls of the final over – before blasting a reverse pull shot for the winning six. Green was named player of the match for his unbeaten 40 off 35 balls.

• Namibia and Scotland will play three T20 internationals on 15, 17 and 18 April in Windhoek.