Van Schoor hits scintillating century for Namibia in Africa U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Benoni

Raymond van Schoor scored a brilliant century as Namibia defeated Zambia by seven wickets on the second day of the Africa U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Benoni, South Africa on Sunday.

Van Schoor slapped 13 boundaries in a 119-ball unbeaten 101 to help Namibia achieve the victory target of 187 in 39.3 overs with seven wickets to spare. Van Schoor put on 117 runs for the second wicket with captain Dawid Hercules Botha who contributed 47.

Fast bowler Charles Waiswa returned magnificent bowling figures of 9.4-7-3-6 to bowl Uganda to a big 283-run victory over Nigeria which was dismissed for 21 in 18.4 overs while chasing Uganda's score of 304-8 in 50 overs that revolved around Ronald Ssesmanda's unbeaten 78 and Roger Mukasa's 68.

Elsewhere, Kenya notched up its second successive victory in the tournament when it defeated Ghana by 56 runs while Tanzania held its nerve to beat Botswana by two wickets in a low-scoring match.

The winner of Africa U/19 Qualifier will join Papua New Guinea (from the East Asia-Pacific Region), Ireland (from the Europe Region) and Bermuda (from the Americas Region), the ICC's 10 Full Members and hosts Malaysia at the 16-team ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup to be played from 17 February to 2 March 2008 in Malaysia.

Scores in brief:
Kenya beat Ghana by 56 runs
Kenya 277 in 49.1 overs (Rakep Patel 57, Prashanth Srinivas 41, Samarth Patel 36; James Vifah 4-41)
Ghana 221 in 50 overs (James Vifah 53; Rohit Vekaria 3-23, Rakep Patel 2-29)

Uganda beat Nigeria by 283 runs
Uganda 304-8 in 50 overs (Ronald Ssesmanda 78 not out, Roger Mukasa 68; Oluwaseun Garuba 3-53)
Nigeria 21 in 18.4 overs (Charles Waiswa 6-3, Jonathan Sebanja 7-3-10-3)

Tanzania beat Botswana by two wickets
Botswana 114 in 35.2 overs (Deelan Ramjee 36; Omari Mandari 4-27, Hamisi Abdullah 3-21)
Tanzania 116-8 in 24 overs (Athumani Kakonzi 31 not out, Enjo Kiongozi 29; Karthik Rajeshmaran 9-1-16-5)

Namibia beat Zambia by seven wickets
Zambia 186-8 in 50 overs (Sarfuddid Bangliwala 74, Kamufu Banda 42; Tiaan Louw 3-37)
Namibia 190-3 in 39.3 overs (Raymond van Schoor 101, Dawid Hercules Botha 47; Sabir Havalewala 2-27)

The ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup is a vital part of the ICC Development Program and provides a vehicle for the best young cricketers in the world to parade their skills.

Many of the future stars of the game experience their first true international exposure at this tournament and players such as Brian Lara, Michael Atherton, Yuvraj Singh, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Cairns, Michael Clarke, Graeme Smith and Sanath Jayasuriya have used the event as a stepping stone to full international honours.

First staged in Australia in 1988, the tournament was initially organised on an occasional basis, but since the commencement of the ICC Development Program in 1997 it has become a biennial fixture.

The 2010 ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup will be held in Kenya while the 2012 tournament will be staged in Canada and UAE will host the 2014 edition.