The Namibian Eagles won the battle but lost the war when they bowed out of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff with a comprehensive 111-run victory against Canada on Tuesday.
Their 28-run defeat to the UAE the previous day had effectively ended their hopes of finishing amongst the top two teams that will progress to Zimbabwe, and the UAE sealed their spot as runners-up to the United States when they beat Jersey by 66 runs yesterday.
That saw the USA and UAE finishing on top of the log on eight points each, while Namibia finished third on six points.
Canada, who beat PNG by 90 runs yesterday, finished fourth on six points, but with an inferior nett run rate to Namibia, while Jersey finished fifth on two points and PNG last on zero points.
The USA and UAE will now join eight other teams in the final World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe where the top two teams will book a ticket to the 2023 Cricket World Cup in October in India.
It could have been so different for Namibia who were well placed in the Cricket World Cup League 2 tournament at the beginning of the year but a poor return on their Asian tour saw them missing out on direct qualification to Zimbabwe at the last minute.
Namibia could only win one out of six matches in Asia and were pipped to the crucial third place qualifying spot by one point by Nepal, who progressed to Zimbabwe along with the winners Scotland and second-placed Oman.
Namibia had a second chance in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff in Windhoek, but once again missed out as USA and UAE claimed the top two spots to go through to Zimbabwe.
A total of 10 teams will be in action in Zimbabwe with the other five being the bottom five teams in the Super League, namely West Indies, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and the Netherlands.
On Tuesday, Namibia gave a fine all round performance to beat Canada by 111 runs in their final group mach.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Shaun Fouche and Niko Davin set the platform with a 63-run partnership for the opening wicket.
Davin was the first to go for 40 but Fouche continued to build a fine innings, despite regular wickets falling at the other end.
When Fouche was eventually out for 83, Namibia were 178/6 with 10 overs to go.
Zane Green (45 off 30 balls, 4×4, 2×6) and Pikky Ya France (34 off 28 balls, 3×4, 1×6), however, picked up the run rate with a 62-run partnership for the seventh wicket as Namibia went on to reach a competitive 267/9 off their 50 overs.
Kaleen Sana (2/59) and Harsh Taker (2/27) were Canada’s best bowlers.
In reply, Matthew Spoors (32), Pargat Singh (34) and Ravinderpal Singh (34) made promising starts but none could build a big score, while Namibia’s bowlers kept up the pressure with regular wickets to dismiss the whole side for 156 runs.
For Namibia, Gerhard Erasmus (2/24), Bernard Scholtz (2/29) and Pikky Ya France (2/27) took two wickets each.
Namibia’s hopes of qualifying for the 2023 Cricket World Cup have now gone, but at least they remain in the Cricket World Cup League 2 competition, which is also Namibia’s main source of income from the ICC.
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