ICC WCL Championship 2015-2017/18, SCOT vs NAM 40th Match Match Report, June 13, 2017

All-rounder Christi Viljoen continued to make his presence felt on the return tour of Namibia, taking three crucial wickets to help the visitors break Scotland’s chase as they won by 50 runs at the Grange on Tuesday. The win is only Namibia’s second win in 10 games in the current WCL Championship, with Scotland missing the crucial two points and remaining three points behind the Netherlands with four games remaining in the competition.

Namibia were on 324 for 5 under clear skies, but the late afternoon forecast meant rain was forecast and DLS calculations predicted it would overwhelm Scotland’s chase. They eventually got off to a lively start behind captain Kyle Coetzer, who made 112 in his eighth List A ton, and Matthew Cross, who made 42 from seven overs, at which point the hosts were 10 points ahead of the DLS par score.

But Viljoen, who is trying to qualify for New Zealand and had not played for Namibia since 2014 before this series, changed the complexion of the chase when he was introduced by captain Sarel Burger in the eighth over. As he did in the first match between the two sides on Sunday, Viljoen struck twice in the opening over and caught Cross at short midwicket for 21 before Calum MacLeod drove it to mid-off for a duck two balls later. The double strike meant Scotland ended 36 overs behind the DLS par score and, taking into account lurking rainfall, were never in front of the reckoning.

Coetzer and Richie Berrington faced an uphill battle to pull Scotland back in front of the benchmark with gray skies on the horizon. The pair put together a brave 117-run stand to pull Scotland close, but the closest they came to par afterwards was four and the score was 141 for 2 after 25 overs. However, with rain leaving them at 158 for 2 in 29 overs, Scotland fell six points behind par.

Due to heavy but brief showers, the delay was only 18 minutes. There was a sense of urgency in Scotland, although ominous clouds were never far away. For the Namibian side, left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz put up excellent pressure before the break, mounting a superb fightback after being bowled out for 29 in three overs on Sunday. Scholtz, conceding 18 runs in his first six overs before the rain, batted second ball after play resumed and beat Berrington with an arm ball after the batsman took the wrong line before being bowled out for 61.

Scholtz got his second over in the next over when Preston Mommsen was driven to long-off and he finished a remarkable 10-over spell of 2 for 32 without conceding a boundary. Con de Lange was dropped in his 38th drive to cover Jan Frylinck as Namibia’s pressure on the field continued to pressure Scotland. The hosts were 99 for 2 out of 17 overs in the first drinks break, but over the next 22 overs they could only score one boundary off the bat, with the only other ball that went to the ropes being leg-side wide for 5 overs.

Coetzer was dropped to backward point off Viljoen’s 90 but brought up his century off 114 deliveries with successive sixes and another drive in the next two balls. But at that stage he quickly ran out of partners and was eventually caught out by a long run for Frylinck’s second wicket, effectively ending Scotland’s hopes of a comeback at 228 for 7 in the 43rd over. Another brief rain fell after 47 overs, but play was restarted to allow Scotland to bat for the last 18 balls, ending at 274 for 9.

The platform for Namibia’s victory was laid by a strong 124-run opening stand between Stephan Baard and Zane Green, who was promoted to an open spot in place of the injured Louis van der Westhuizen. Baard dominated the partnership, hammering 78 off 53 balls with positive but controlled strokeplay after Namibia won the toss. Of his 12 boundaries, only two hit the infield. One each was hit at mid-on and one at mid-off. On the other hand, he benefited the most with a series of elegant cuts behind the point.

Baard eventually fell behind a slow bouncer from Safyaan Sharif to Cross, but it was the only moment Scotland’s short-ball strategy, which had been so effective in the win a day earlier, succeeded. Green went on to score a List A career-best 61 and was awarded lbw when Mark Watt played across the line on the back foot. Gerhard Erasmus missed out on a sweep that saw Watt hit 27 early in the 31st to leave them at 188 for 3 as Namibia appeared on course for 350+ with wickets in hand.

Scotland did well to contain Namibia over the next 16 overs, but Craig Williams and JJ Smit added 45 off the final four overs to break the shackles. Vice-captain Williams finished unbeaten with 69 off 63 balls, his third half-century, and his knock took Namibia past 300, a total they ultimately defended comfortably.

As a result, the Netherlands have a two-point advantage over Papua New Guinea and a three-point advantage over Scotland with two rounds remaining in the WCL Championship. The Netherlands and Scotland both have two-match series against Kenya, while Scotland’s other series is away to PNG. The Netherlands face Namibia in the final series while PNG are paired with Hong Kong, who currently sit in fourth place with 11 points.

The Netherlands can win the WCL Championship and, if they win their last four matches, also qualify for the 13-team ODI league, where qualifiers are scheduled ahead of the 2023 World Cup. If the Netherlands loses one of their last four and PNG wins and ties the score at 22 points, PNG will be crowned champions with more wins compared to PNG’s 10 wins compared to PNG’s 11 and Netherlands’ 2 wins.

As Scotland and PNG are paired against each other in the next round, both teams will need to win their remaining matches to chase the Netherlands, so while there is a realistic chance that only one of the two teams can do that, a split series between Scotland and PNG would create a much bigger buffer for the Netherlands. The Netherlands have lost just one of their first 10 games and, barring dramatic defeats in their last four, are now on course for the title.

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