THE Richelieu Namibian Eagles got off to a great start in the Cricket World Cup League 2 tournament when they beat Nepal by four wickets in Kirtipur yesterday.
After winning the toss and sending Nepal in to bat they restricted the home side to 132 all out and then reached the winning target with four wickets and close to 17 overs in hand.
Nepal were immediately in trouble when Namibian pace bowler Ruben Trumpelmann dismissed Kushal Bhurtel for a golden duck with the first ball of the match. New cap Jack Brassel also weighed in with some early wickets and when he dismissed Rohit Paudel for 8, they had slumped to 21 for four wickets.
Bhim Sharki and Kushal Malla revived Nepal’s innings with a 46-run partnership, but Namibian captain Gerhard Erasmus then took centre stage as he ripped through Nepal’s middle order with a great bowling spell. He dismissed Malla for 15 and Sompal Khami 2, and when he trapped Sharki lbw for a top score of 44, they were struggling at 94/7.
Gulshan Jha added 21 further down the order but Erasmus continued to rake in the wickets to finish with an impressive five wickets for 28. Trumpelmann weighed in with 2/30 and Brassell with 2/11 as Nepal were all out for 132.
In reply, Namibia got off to a solid start with Niko Davin and Michael van Lingen putting on 27 for the first wicket before Davin was dismissed for 15.
Van Lingen followed for 23, but Gerhard Erasmus and Jan Frylinck stabilised the innings to take the total to 81.
Nepal struck back with three quick wickets as Erasmus (8), Frylinck (34) and Zane Green (2) were dismissed, and with the score at 84/5 after 20 overs it was still anyone’s game.
Nicol Loftie-Eaton and JJ Smit, however, put Namibia in charge with a 42-run partnership, before Loftie-Eaton was dismissed for 31 off 30 balls (5×4).
Smit remained not out on 17 as they reached 134 for six wickets with nearly 17 overs in hand.
Kami was Nepal’s best bowler, taking three wickets for 32 runs.
The next match in the Tri-Nations series is between Nepal and the Netherlands tomorrow, while Namibia’s next match is against the Netherlands on Monday,19 February.
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