Namibia meet tough Irish

THE Namibian cricket side will go into one of their most important cricket matches when they take on Ireland in a win-or-go-broke ICC Intercontinental Cup, starting at the Wanderers today at 10h30.

The matches will be played at the same venue until Monday. The home side are destined to make the final as they lead the log standings with 102 points – six ahead of Kenya who are in second place.Ireland are down in fourth position on 72 points but have a game in hand.If Ireland secure the maximum 40 points from the last two matches, they’ll be through to the final.They meet Kenya later this month.Despite an impressive record of six wins from six matches so far, Namibia still has to make sure of a place in the final by beating Ireland.In fact, the competition between the top three teams is tight and Namibia have to rely heavily on their home base to make the most of it and reach the final.Should Namibia manage to have a first-innings lead they will be ensured of six points and a place in the final.An outright win will help a lot for the confidence of the team going into the final.Coached by Johan Rudolph, the Namibian team players have proven to have a high level of fitness and the morale of the team speaks volumes.According to Namibia Cricket Board (NCB) marketing director Hannes du Plessis, compliment should also go to the national team players for their commitment and for ensuring that Namibia is a force to be reckoned with.”An extra motivation for the players is that this game could as well be described as a semi-final and the players are keen to put up an excellent performance on home soil and in front of a home crowd,” he said.He said the incentive for the public is that there will be no entrance fee.Looking at the Namibian squad, it is well balanced with experienced players and a mixture of younger players who have been impressive despite their relatively young ages.Louis Burger will be expected to lead from the front as captain, while he will be ably assisted by regulars such as the industrious Gerrie Snyman, the ever-consistent Sarel Burger, the hard-hitting JB Burger and the vastly experienced former captain and coach Deon Kotze.All these players were part of the Namibian team which played in their first ever World Cup held in South Africa in 2003.Pace bowler Bjorn Kotze will lead the attack against the Irish, and his seven-year experience with the national side will come in handy.Other key players such as right-hand low-order batsman Kola Burger, middle-order left-hand batsman Nicolaas Scholtz and right-hand lower-order batsman Louis Klazinga have all been great contributors to the success of the team.Middle-order batsman Louis van der Westhuizen is the youngest member of the team at age 21, while Deon Kotze is the oldest member of the side at 35.The two teams were named as follows: Namibia: JB Burger, Deon Kotze, Sarel Burger, Louis Burger (capt), Gerrie Snyman, Bjorn Kotze, Craig Wiliams, Tobie Verwey, Nicolaas Scholtz, Kola Burger, Louis Klazinga, LP van der Westhuizen and Wilbur Slabber Ireland: William Porterfield (capt), Andre Botha, Peter Connell, Alex Cusack, Phil Eaglestone, Trent Johnston, Kyle McCallan, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Regan West, Andrew White and Gary Wilson.The home side are destined to make the final as they lead the log standings with 102 points – six ahead of Kenya who are in second place.Ireland are down in fourth position on 72 points but have a game in hand.If Ireland secure the maximum 40 points from the last two matches, they’ll be through to the final.They meet Kenya later this month.Despite an impressive record of six wins from six matches so far, Namibia still has to make sure of a place in the final by beating Ireland.In fact, the competition between the top three teams is tight and Namibia have to rely heavily on their home base to make the most of it and reach the final.Should Namibia manage to have a first-innings lead they will be ensured of six points and a place in the final.An outright win will help a lot for the confidence of the team going into the final.Coached by Johan Rudolph, the Namibian team players have proven to have a high level of fitness and the morale of the team speaks volumes.According to Namibia Cricket Board (NCB) marketing director Hannes du Plessis, compliment should also go to the national team players for their commitment and for ensuring that Namibia is a force to be reckoned with.”An extra motivation for the players is that this game could as well be described as a semi-final and the players are keen to put up an excellent performance on home soil and in front of a home crowd,” he said.He said the incentive for the public is that there will be no entrance fee.Looking at the Namibian squad, it is well balanced with experienced players and a mixture of younger players who have been impressive despite their relatively young ages.Louis Burger will be expected to lead from the front as captain, while he will be ably assisted by regulars such as the industrious Gerrie Snyman, the ever-consistent Sarel Burger, the hard-hitting JB Burger and the vastly experienced former captain and coach Deon Kotze.All these players were part of the Namibian team which played in their first ever World Cup held in South Africa in 2003.Pace bowler Bjorn Kotze will lead the attack against the Irish, and his seven-year experience with the national side will come in handy.Other key players such as right-hand low-order batsman Kola Burger, middle-order left-hand batsman Nicolaas Scholtz and right-hand lower-order batsman Louis Klazinga have all been great contributors to the success of the team.Middle-order batsman Louis van der Westhuizen is the youngest member of the team at age 21, while Deon Kotze is the oldest member of the side at 35.The two teams were named as follows: Namibia: JB Burger, Deon Kotze, Sarel Burger, Louis Burger (capt), Gerrie Snyman, Bjorn Kotze, Craig Wiliams, Tobie Verwey, Nicolaas Scholtz, Kola Burger, Louis Klazinga, LP van der Westhuizen and Wilbur Slabber Ireland: William Porterfield (capt), Andre Botha, Peter Connell, Alex Cusack, Phil Eaglestone, Trent Johnston, Kyle McCallan, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Poynter, Boyd Rankin, Regan West, Andrew White and Gary Wilson.