Namibia were soundly beaten by Scotland in a warm-up match for the T20 World Cup Qualifiers at the Grange Cricket Club Ground in Edinburgh on Monday.
Namibia batted first after winning the toss but got off to a poor start before a later revival led by Raymond van Schoor saw them reaching 127 for eight wickets off their 20 overs.
The target was always within reach for Scotland, and with Richie Berrington scoring 61 not out, they reached 130 for four wickets with 26 balls remaining.
In Namibia’s innings, Stephan Baard got off to a confident start, hitting boundaries from the outset and with Gerrie Snyman playing a supporting role, they took the score to 25 off the first three overs.
Scotland’s 20-year-old pace bowler Gavin Main however made the breakthrough, dismissing Gerrie Snyman (3) and Gerhard Erasmus (9) in quick succession to reduce Namibia to 36 for two wickets.
The big-hitting Baard was out next, for 32 off 24 balls which included six fours, and the run-rate started to drop as Scotland’s bowlers kept it tight.
Sarel Burger and Raymond van Schoor took the score to 56 but Scotland’s spin bowler Michael Leask struck with the wickets of Burger (9) and Nicolaas Scholtz (0) as Namibia crashed to 56 for five wickets.
Van Schoor led Namibia’s revival and found good support from JP Kotze as they put on 61 runs for the sixth wicket, but Alasdair Evans broke their partnership dismissing both batsmen off successive balls. Kotze scored 21 off 25 balls (two sixes) and Van Schoor top scored with 42 off 34 balls (three fours and two sixes) as Namibia reached 127 for eight off 20 overs.
In Scotland’s innings, Namibian pace bowler Louis Klazinga struck early with the wickets of George Munsey (4) and Craig Wallace (14) and when JJ Smit dismissed Michael Leask for 6 Scotland were struggling at 37 for three wickets.
Kyle Coetzer and Richie Berrington started to dominate the bowling and although Bernard Scholtz dismissed Coetzer for 28, there was no stopping Berrington as he swung the match in Scotland’s favour with some big hitting.
He went on to score 61 not out off only 35 balls which included four fours and four sixes. Preston Mommsen was 15 not out as Scotland reached 130 for four wickets with 26 balls in hand.
Louis Klazinga was Namibia’s best bowler, taking two wickets for 23 runs, while JJ Smit took one for 34 runs and Bernard Scholtz 1 for 32 runs.
Namibia’s next warm-up match is against Canada on Tuesday before they open the tournament against favourites Ireland in Belfast on Friday.
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