Kotze guides Namibia out of trouble

Namibia 245 for 6 (D Kotze 90*, Snyman 60) v Nepal
Scorecard

Deon Kotze guided Namibia out of trouble as play finally got underway on the second day of their Intercontinental Cup match against Nepal at Windhoek. Kotze fought his way through 244 balls for his unbeaten 90 after Namibia had struggled to 60 for 4 after being put into bat.

There was early assistance for the Nepal new-ball bowlers, not surprising given the amount of rain over recent days. Aamir Akhtar struck two early blows after coming on as first change to put Namibia on the backfoot. Basanta Regmi, the star of Nepal's victory in the Plate final of the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka, then grabbed a brace for himself with his left-arm spin.

Then came Namibia's response to the early setbacks through a spirited stand of 97 between Kotze and Gerrie Snyman, who was the aggressor in the stand. Snyman cracked four fours and two sixes in his 95-ball innings before falling Mahaboob Alam. Kotze, however, found another able partner in Bjorn Kotze as the pair carried the team through to the close without any further loss.

Regmi and Alam were the pick of the attack, each getting through a fair workload of 23 overs. Nepal will be disappointed not to have made the most of their early strikes, but Namibia have shown their strength of character to haul themselves back into this match.