NAMIBIAN batsman JP Kotze has been nominated for the Associates Batting Performance of the Year award following his brilliant 148 against Hong Kong last year.
Kotze is one of five batsmen from Associate member states to have been nominated for the award which forms part of the annual ESPNcricinfo Awards.
That innings was very important for Kotze, as well as for Namibia’s chances of reaching the final of the World Cricket League Division 2 tournament.
Kotze went into the match after a poor run of form and needed a big innings, while Namibia had to win the match to keep their hopes in the tournament alive.
Kotze, however, rose to the occasion with a brilliant knock, which included nine sixes and 15 fours as he raced to 148 off only 68 balls.
That was the catalyst for a comprehensible 151-run victory, which booked Namibia a place in the final, where they would go on to beat Oman, while it also secured Namibia, One Day International status.
When contacted yesterday, Kotze said he was surprised and excited to have been nominated.
“I’m very excited to have been nominated for the award. I heard about it from coach Pierre (de Bruyn) – I didn’t know about the competition so it was a big surprise.
“I don’t know if there will be an awards ceremony – it will be nice to win something, but just getting recognition is more than enough for me,” he added.
Recalling the knock, Kotze said that everything just came together on the day.
“It was a wonderful innings. I was struggling a lot at the time, but Pierre believed in me and everything just clicked in that innings, it was a great moment in my career.”
Kotze will face tough competition from the three other nominees.
George Munsey of Scotland was nominated twice for two separate performances.
The first was his 127 not out in a T20 victory against the Netherlands, which is also a Scottish T20 individual record, while the second was for his 96 in a third and deciding List A match against Oman that Scotland won by 15 runs.
Norman Vanua of Papua New Guinea was nominated for his 54 runs against Kenya at theT20 World Cup Qualifier in Dubai last year which led PNG to a dramatic 45-run victory and their first-ever World Cup qualification.
Jatinder Singh of Oman was nominated for his 67 not out against Hong Kong in Dubai last year which led Oman to a 12-run victory and qualification for the T20 World Cup.
Kotze said they were hard at work preparing for an exciting season that will see Namibia competing at the T20 World Cup for the first time in October. On 15 February, Namibia will travel to South Africa to take on Ireland A in several matches, while Namibia will host the Netherlands in Windhoek in March.
“Holland are probably the strongest Associate nation but we have proved ourselves against them time and again, so we hope to do well again,” Kotze said.
“We are practising very hard for the World Cup and our whole training programme has been raised considerably. It’s going to be very tough, but we want to give ourselves the best chance to do well at the World Cup,” he added.
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