Kotze praises 'marvellous' bowlers

Bjorn Kotze, the Namibia captain, described the efforts of his fast bowlers as "marvellous" following their impressive eight-wicket win over Canada in the ICC Intercontinental Cup opener at Windhoek on Sunday.

Namibia's fast bowlers picked up 18 of the 20 Canada wickets to fall as the tourists were forced to follow-on on a wicket which, according to Kotze, lacked any lateral seam movement.

"The fast bowlers showed tremendous commitment by bowling with the same fire and venom throughout in warm weather conditions. It was their marvellous effort that earned the team 20 invaluable points," he said. "And if you take into account their workload in the previous match, it was nothing less than a superb achievement in which they not only showed their ability but also displayed their high fitness levels.

"The result might reflect that it was a comfortable victory but the fact of the matter is that it was a tough game that tested our temperament, patience and talent in different situations."

The new ball duo of Gerrie Snyman (match figures of 7 for 116) and Louis Klazinga (6 for 82) did the bulk of the bowling, though they were lent excellent support from Ian van Zyl who picked up 4 for 57.

"I think Canada played good competitive cricket but missed a couple of experienced players," Kotze said. "I also feel the bounce of the surface was not to their liking.

"Mohammad Iqbal played exceptionally well in both innings and without belittling his superb efforts, I think we didn't field as well as should have and dropped him a few times.

"We not only need to improve our fielding, the batsmen also need to learn how to converting good starts into big scores. I think it is premature to discuss our prospects in the competition at this stage as there is plenty of cricket still to be played.

"I mean we have played just one match and there are teams which have played three or even four matches. Obviously, we want to be right up there but it is dependent on several factors.

While Namibia has collected 20 points from the match, Canada's third defeat in four matches has dented its hopes of repeating its last event's performance in the previous event when it reached the final before losing to Ireland. Canada's remaining games are against Ireland, Scotland and Bermuda.