After Namibia’s batting collapsed on the first day of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualification Play-off, USA cruised to an 81-run victory.
Namibia chose to bowl first after winning the toss.
The USA prevailed by 81 runs.
Steven Taylor and Monak Patel’s dismissals by pacer Ben Shikongo in the second over shook USA early in their innings. After that, the team started to rebuild, and Sushant Modani and Aaron Jones adopted a cautious attitude.
They attempted to increase the scoring rate after fending off the new ball stints of Shikongo and Ruben Trumpelmann. Both hitters were struck by hard blows, though, and by the 20th over, USA were 87/4.
In the 23rd over, a returning Trumpelmann bowled an absolute rocket that came in and uprooted Shayan Jahangir’s stumps, tightening Namibia’s grip on the match.
The USA were staring down the barrel with five down and less than 100 to go.
Gajanand Singh (53), Jessy Singh (33) and Nosthush Kenjige (43), who made significant contributions after that, helped USA pass 200. Shikongo’s shaky 25-run final over helped the Americans achieve 231 points.
With the loss of Nikolaas Davin and Michael van Lingen in the second over due to Ali Khan’s bowling, Namibia got off to an uncannily similar start as the United States. In order to steady Namibia’s innings, captain Gerhard Erasmus and Shaun Fouché put together a careful 51-run partnership for the third wicket. Nevertheless, USA retaliated by dismissing Erasmus in the 19th over.
Jan Loftie-Eaton (38) provided some solid support for Fouché (55) as he attempted to keep the Eagles afloat, but America continued to chip away with wickets at regular intervals.
Namibia collapsed and lost their next six wickets for just 35 runs after Ali dismissed Loftie-Eaton, leaving them at 115/4. For the USA, Ali (3/21), and Nisarg Patel (3/28), both excelled with the ball.
The two teams that advance to the Zimbabwe-hosted ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers will be determined by the Qualifier Play-offs. Ten teams will compete at that event for the final two World Cup places.
Tomorrow will mark the opening day of a doubleheader for the tournament. While Jersey will compete against Canada, Papua New Guinea will take on the United Arab Emirates.
