Namibia lose to Kwazulu Natal Inland

Namibia staged a great comeback to nearly beat Kwazulu Natal Inland at the Wanderers field on Saturday, but the visitors managed to hold out for a draw.

With a 163-run deficit on the first innings, Namibia seemed to be heading for defeat, but their batsmen made a fine comeback, scoring 290 in their second innings and then had the visitors in deep trouble at 102/8 when the match was called off. Namibia’s first innings got off to a poor start as Raymond van Schoor was out for a duck, while Sarel Burger (5) and Louis Burger (2) soon followed.
Craig Williams joined Gerhard Rudolph to stabilise the innings but they could not build a big partnership as Williams was dismissed for 30 and Rudolph for 55.Further down the order only Wian van Vuuren managed to reach double figures, scoring 16, as Namibia crashed to 112 all out. Led by Brad Moses, KZN Inland soon passed Namibia’s total and went on to post a big first innings lead. Moses was unlucky to miss out on a century as he was dismissed off the bowling of Christi Viljoen for 93 runs. Mario Olivier (22), Kyle Nipper (38), Chris Basson (21) and Neil Haridave (47) added useful contributions before KZN Inland were all out for 275 runs. Sarel Burger, who took 4/49 off 32 overs was Namibia’s most successful bowler. Namibia’s top order batsmen once again failed to make an impact in the second innings, but their middle order came to the rescue. Craig Williams (43), Norbert Manyande (44), Wian van Vuuren (33), Christi Viljoen (47) all made solid contributions, while Louis Klazinga added 30 at the tail as Namibia were all out for 290 in their second innings, setting KwaZulu Natal Inland a seemingly simple victory target of 127 runs. Craig Williams and Louis Klazinga however turned the match on its head with some excellent bowling in KwaZulu Natal’s second innings to bring Namibia close to a seemingly impossible victory. Williams took 5/41 off 17 overs while Klazinga took 3/31 off 10 overs, but the visitors managed to hold out as they reached 102/8 at stumps. namibiasport.com.na