Namibia decimate Coetzer-less Scotland

With captain Kyle Coetzer sitting out still feeling the effects of dehydration after a draining half-century in Monday's win over Papua New Guinea, Scotland looked deflated coming up against a rested Namibia unit, who stormed to their first win of the tournament by 24 runs.

Namibia's top-order failed once again after opting to bat first at the toss, reduced to 46 for 3 in the seventh over. But captain Gerhard Erasmus helped steady the innings after entering at No. 5 to build a 49-run stand with Craig Williams. Erasmus was the aggressor, slogging two straight sixes in his 37 off 26 balls before he sliced a slog to short third man off Tom Sole's offspin in the 14th.

JJ Smit was sent in at No. 6 and provided a crucial finishing kick to the Namibia innings. The allrounder struck four straight sixes off Sole, Safyaan Sharif and Josh Davey in a blistering 43 off 22 balls before falling in the 19th over, a knock which earned him Man-of-the-Match honours before he fell off a full toss to deep midwicket. Nine more runs off the final over took Namibia to 159, making 99 off the last 10 overs to reach a total that was more than enough on a ground with an 80-meter boundary to the western side which has made quick scoring difficult all week.

Craig Wallace came into the XI and opened in the absence of Coetzer but was knocked over second ball by Ben Shikongo who clipped the top of the stumps with a back of a length ball to beat Wallace's slog. An even bigger blow was struck in the field nine balls later when George Munsey, Scotland's most consistent batsman at this tournament, was run-out after taking on Niko Davin's arm from the 80-meter boundary at deep backward square but wound up well short of the relay to Smit over the non-striker's stumps coming back for a third run.

Calum MacLeod and stand-in captain Richie Berrington did well to reconstruct the innings with a 48-run stand. Scotland were 64 for 2 at the 10-over mark, four runs ahead of where Namibia had been, but constant rotation of the bowling unit by Erasmus and disciplined lines built enough pressure for the Scotland innings to burst. Berrington fell to an excellent diving catch at deep midwicket by Jan Frylinck to end the stand, sparking the first of five consecutive men caught on the boundary as the required run rate climbed forcing Scotland to hit out in vain.

MacLeod eventually fell to end the 15th, driving Frylinck to Christi Viljoen at long-off for a stodgy 39 off 46 balls. Scotland were reduced to 107 for 8 when Mark Watt was caught at short fine leg failing to get elevation scooping a full toss from Viljoen. But Sharif and Davey scored 28 off the last 15 balls to mitigate the net run rate damage Scotland took with the loss, something which could be crucial by the end of the group on the net run rate tie-breaker.