Namibia & Uganda set for top of the table clash

Zambia v PNG © ICC

Both Namibia and Uganda made bold statements with emphatic victories in Round 2 of the ICC Africa/EAP U19 World Cup Qualifier played at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, South Africa today.

Namibia won the toss and sent in Tanzania in their match on C Field. Tanzania batted cautiously and wickets fell steadily through the innings due to consistent line and length bowling from the Namibian attack. Tanzania tenaciously survived the last few overs to complete their 50 overs at 9/140. LP Van der Westhuizen was the main wicket taker again for Namibia with 3/21 off 10 overs. In reply, Namibia got off to a great start with an 86 run opening partnership but with the fall of the two openers (Dawid Botha 43 & LP Van der Westhuizen 34) a mini collapse was signalled before Pieter Grove and Hennon Prinsloo secured the victory in the 33rd over.

In the other Pool B encounter Uganda were dismissed in the 50th over for 190 with Hamza Saleh Almuzahim carving 61 off 66 balls and Patrick Ochan smashing 42 off 31 balls late in the innings. At 8/140 Uganda were in a perilous position until Ochan despatched the Fijian to all parts of the ground before being the last man out in the 50th over. Josaia Baba was the pick of the Fijian bowlers with 3/53. Fiji started steadily in their innings and at 4/79 the game was shaping as a fierce contest. However, Fiji were unable to maintain their batting momentum and the consistent Ugandan bowling and lively fielding eventually wore them down and they were dismissed for 125 in the 41st over. Josefa Rika continued his fine form with 41 and opening bowler Patrick Ochan (3/29) and off spinner Davis Arinaitwe (3/29) did the damage with the ball.

Players waiting to bat © ICC

In Pool A, Kenya opened their account with an emphatic 190 run victory over Nigeria. Kenya rattled up 7/247 (Hafiz Manji 64no, Tanmay Mishra 64) with the assistance of 30 Nigerian wides and this was always going to be too much for the Nigerian batters as they succumbed to some fiery Kenyan bowling to be dismissed for 56 in 30.1 overs.

The tightest game of the round was the clash at A Field between Zambia and PNG. Zambia batted first and built their innings around patience and application. The PNG bowling was honest and tight and the Zambians found it difficult to reach the boundary during their innings of 8/167. William Chomba (39 off 93 balls) and Isaac Mwaba (31 off 80 balls) were the mainstays of the Zambian innings and yesterday's hero Safraz Patel chimed in with 33 off 42 balls in the late innings flurry. The pick of the PNG bowlers was leg spinner Arua Rarua with 3/25 off 10 dangerous overs.

PNG started strongly with Assad Vala (39 off 34 balls) and Kila Pala (26 off 23 balls) scoring freely until Safraz Patel again put the breaks on with three wickets. The Papua New Guineans got the staggers as the game drew tighter and a couple of rash dismissals nearly proved costly. In the end, Kapena Arua showed maturity and responsibility to guide the team to victory with a steady 46 not out off 95 balls.

Round 3 will be played tomorrow with the highlight to be the unbeaten Uganda and Namibia facing off for the top spot in Pool B. The other game in Pool B sees Fiji and Tanzania looking to record their first wins whilst in Pool A PNG face Nigeria and the impressive Kenya take on Zambia.

Round 2 results: Zambia 8/167 (Chomba 39, Patel 33, Mwaba 31, Rarua 3/25) lost to PNG 7/171 (Arua 46no, Vala 39)
Kenya 7/247 (Manji 64no, Tanmay 64, Limbahia 34) defeated Nigeria 56
Uganda 190 (Hamza 61, Ochan 42, Baia 3/53) defeated Fiji 125 (Rika 41, Arinaitwe 3/29, Ochan 3/29)
Tanzania 9/140 (Mwita 38, Van de Westhuizen 34)