Namibia will have to do a lot better if they hope to beat the United States in their Cricket World Cup League 2 encounter in Al Amerat, Oman tomorrow.
It will be the second encounter betwen the two sides in Oman, after the USA thumped Namibia by 114 runs in their first match on 8 February, and coach Pierre de Bruyn said they needed to improve their performance.
“Our first game against USA was definitely not the ideal start, especially against a quality outfit. What’s required against a team like that is relentless discipline, especially with the ball. They’ve got players that can take the game away from you in the blink of an eye,” he said yesterday.
“We’ve taken some good lessons from that game and we’re going to have to be a lot better in the next encounter against them,” he added.
USA posted a sizable 293 for eight wickets, with Andries Gous scoring 73, Monank Patel 65 and Milind Kumar 54, while JJ Smit took four wickets for 46 runs, and Bernard Scholtz 3/47.
Namibia could not get close to the target as they were bundled out for 179, with Malan Kruger scoring 32, while Kumar took 4/48.
Namibia, however, made a great recovery when they beat Oman by 23 runs two days later.
Namibia were all out for 169, with Kruger scoring 39 and JC Balt 35 not out, while Samay Shrivastav took 4/56 for Oman.
Namibia’s bowlers then gave a great performance to bundle Oman out for 146, to complete a hard-fought 23-run victory.
Jatinder Singh top-scored for Oman with 25 runs, while all of Namibia’s bowlers got amongst the wickets, with JJ Smit, Gerhard Erasmus, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz and Nicol Loftie-Eaton each taking two wickets.
Afterwards, De Bruyn commended the team on a great comeback.
“I’m very proud of every single player that showed that resilience after the first game to bounce back and to really graft hard. It was a complete team performance and all the bowlers contributed,” he said.
“Their bowling discipline was relentless, as we only posted 160-odd runs, but on a very difficult surface, we knew that we were in the game,” he added.
De Bruyn said Smit made a big differene after returning to the bowling attack.
“Just having JJ back in the bowling unit makes a huge difference for us. He’s physically in very good shape, and we are managing him accordingly to ensure that there’s longevity out of JJ. But just his skill sets and his experience with the ball has brought something new to us,” he said.
De Bruyn also had a word of praise for JC Balt who made his one day international debut against Oman and scored a courageous 35 not out.
“I’m so pleased for JC Balt, making his debut against Oman. He showed a lot of maturity, especially down the order on a difficult wicket, facing a lot of quality spin but he looked in control.”
“He was clear in his mind in how to bat on that wicket, and that’s a great sign for us, when a young player like him get’s a chance and takes that chance,” he added.
Balt, however, picked up an ankle injury against Oman and De Bruyn said he hoped he would be ready for tomorrow’s mach against the USA.
“We are sweating on his fitness with his ankle injury that he picked up while he was batting and we are holding thumbs that he can pull through. Hopefully he can recover to be able to be selectable for that next game against USA,” he said.
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