Rippon stars as Netherlands take title

Having battled for second place, and promotion, Netherlands cruised to the WCL Division Two title with an eight-wicket win against hosts Namibia. Michael Rippon, the left-arm chinaman bowler, who had a spell on the Sussex staff, set up the victory by taking a career-best 5 for 37 to stifle Namibia's innings. They had a decent base to work from at 121 for 2 in the 29th over, but Rippon removed Gerard Erasmus, who had laboured for 25 off 55 balls, and top-scorer Craig Williams (54). Namibia's last eight wickets fell for 91 and they did not manage a single six.

In reply, Netherlands were never under pressure. An opening stand of 93 in 16 overs broke the back of the chase and even though Rahil Ahmed and Stephan Myburgh fell in consecutive overs Namibia did not threaten to derail them. Captain Peter Borren combined with No. 3 Ben Cooper to add an unbroken 116 as the title was secured with nine overs to spare.

The heart-wrenching disappointment felt by Nepal on missing out on promotion spilled over into the third-place play-off as Kenya fought back to claim a 15-run win. Nepal appeared well on course to lift their spirits as they reached 142 for 3 in 29th over chasing 209, but Elijah Otieno added to his two new-ball wickets by removing Gyanendra Malla (48) to send Nepal into a downward spiral. Malla had added 87 with Binod Bhandari after Nepal had been 35 for 3 following the first-ball loss of captain Paras Khadka. Bhandari fell shortly afterwards for 73, and Nepal's middle and lower order could not keep their composure. There were still three overs unsued when they were bowled out.

Kenya had been in significant trouble with the bat on 69 for 5, but managed to haul themselves up to a defendable total. Rakep Patel (32) and Nelson Odhiambo (48) added 71 for the sixth wicket while Nehemiah Odhiambo clubbed a handy 25 off 17 balls.

Uganda took fifth place with a one-sided victory against Canada as they cantered to an eight-wicket win with nearly half their overs to spare. Canada slipped to 25 for 3 after choosing to bat and never recovered. The early damage was done by Jonathan Sebanja (3 for 26) and Franco Nsubuga, but it was left-arm spinner Henry Ssenyondo who stole the show - and claimed the Man-of-the-Match award - as he finished with 3 for 21 off his 10 overs. The chase was a brisk affair, sealed by the third-wicket pair of Lepono Ndhlovu (40 not out) and Phillimon Selowa (48 not out).