Namibia come up trumps

Namibia overcame a determined Uganda by 3 wickets to win the final of the ICC Africa/EAP U19 World Cup Qualifier played at on the main ground at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, South Africa today.

Uganda won the toss and elected batted but was put under immediate pressure by the Namibian attack. Henno Prinsloo bowled with pace and bounce and troubled the Ugandan top order and fellow speedster Marc Olivier claimed early wickets to finish with 3/27 from his 10 overs. Ronald Semanda (29 off 55 balls) was the only Ugandan able to offer much resistance and when Prinsloo (3/16 off 8.3) was reintroduced the Ugandan innings was wrapped up for 139.

Namibia started nervously and the Ugandans, whose fielding has been outstanding throughout the tournament, applied the pressure needing an early breakthrough. Player of the Tournament LP Van der Westhuizen was picked up cheaply but skipper ST Ackermann (38) and Dawid Botha (28) set up the victory. As the winning runs were hit in the 44th over, the Namibians were jubilant in their celebrations as the Ugandans were left to rue their first loss of the tournament.

The 3rd and 4th place playoff was a nailbiter as Kenya avenged their defeat on Wednesday to account for Papua New Guinea. Kenya batted first and was bowled out for 232 in the 49th over with the innings highlighted by a 110 run 3rd wicket partnership between Hafiz Manji (97) and Ashish Karia (71). Opening bowler Jack Ebani was the pick of the PNG attack with 4/27 off his 10 overs. PNG kept up with the run rate for the most part of their run chase but just fell short by 4 runs after Kila Pala (42 off 22 balls) was caught in the deep in the 49th over. Emmanual Karo (69) was also impressive opening the batting and setting the foundation.

The much improved Tanzania made light work of Zambia to claim 5th place bowling them out for 136 and passing their score 5 wickets down. Safraz Patel top scored for Zambia with 40 while Benson Mwita continued his fine tournament taking 3/22 with the new ball. In reply, Tanzania was always in control with Shahid Dhanani anchoring the innings with a patient 50 off 118 balls.

Fiji made a mess of Nigeria and take 7th place after bowling Nigeria out for 42 in only 19.5 overs. Jone Wasele was the chief destroyer claiming 4/16 off 6.5 overs. Fiji made light work off the innings and claimed the points in the 11th over losing only 2 wickets along the way.

Finals Results:
Uganda 139 (Semanda 29, Prinsloo 3/16, Olivier 3/27) lost to Namibia 7/140 (Ackermann 38)
Kenya 232 (Manji 97, Karia 71, Ebani 4/27) defeated PNG 228 (Karo 69, Pala 42, Odiambo 3/43)
Zambia 136 (Patel 40, Mwita 3/22)
Nigeria 42 (Wasele 4/16) lost to Fiji 2/44

Final Placings: