Namibia off to flying start

Namibia got their bid to make it to next year&rsquo;s Cricket World Cup off to a great start when they beat the Netherlands by 91 runs yesterday. The qualifying tournament, which is taking place in New Zealand, will see the top two teams making the list of countries that will compete in next year&rsquo;s cricket showpiece. Namibia thus gave themselves a great chance of eventually making it to the finals of the tournament with their win over a side traditionally considered to be stronger than the Africans. As it turned out, Namibia got to bat first and managed to put up a total of 253/6 during their allotted 50 overs. That score was built on the some solid performances by the likes of Sarel Burger (24 runs), Craig Williams (36) and Nicolaas Scholtz (27). But ultimately it was the performance by Gerrie Snyman - who was a late replacement for JP Burger - that sealed the deal for Namibia. The batsman picked up from where he left off in the preparation match against Scotland where he managed to score 73 run by again notching up more than a half-century of runs. This time Snyman managed 74 runs before being run out in the 48th over. His tally included nine fours; having faced 74 balls during his time on the pitch. By the time of his exit, though, most of the damage had already been done with Christi Viljoen having complemented Snyman quite well from the 36th over. Viljoen finished the match with 46 runs to his name. Namibia&rsquo;s run rate turned out to be 5.06 per over. The Dutch&rsquo;s opening batsman, Stephan Mybur, had given his team hope by recording 40 runs in about 14 overs but they could not make a dent in the Namibians&rsquo; tally as they were all out for just 162 runs by the 36th over. Strong bowlers Namibia&lsquo;s bowlers proved to be quite strong, with Viljoen rounding off a good batting performance by taking four wickets as a bowler. Louis Klazinga and Bernard Scholtz contributed by taking two wickets each while JJ Smit and Nicolaas Scholtz picked up the other wickets. While Viljoen was arguably the most effective player during the game, the Man of the Match award was given to Snyman for his batting heroics. The win gives Namibia two points, with their next match set to be against Kenya tomorrow. After that the team will only be in action next Tuesday when they are due to face Uganda before completing their group matches against Papua New Guinea next Thursday. WINDHOEK-HECTOR MAWONGA

Namibia off to flying start

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-09

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Namibia off to flying start

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-09

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