ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

SCOTLAND v NAMIBIA Namibia’s players were unable to cope with, for them, the alien conditions of cool to cold wet weather and a pitch which always gave help to the bowlers and, by the third day, had become ideal for seam and swing. Further, they were weakened by the absence of four players who would probably have been selected for this and the next match against Ireland, but were unavailable because of other commitments. The most missed was undoubtedly Jan-Berrie Burger who stayed at home with his pregnant wife. Also, two of the young all-rounders included in the touring party were unable to bowl, having been reported for suspect actions in the ICC Under-19 World Cup. Namibia batted first on what was the best day for cricket, dry, cloudy and with the temperature reaching a maximum of 15°C. They started slowly against tight bowling by Paul Hoffmann and Dewald Nel, with a strike rate of under 30, but it was the change bowlers of Colin Wright and Gordon Goudie who made the breakthrough, taking all three wickets that fell before lunch, when the score was 68. Deon Kotze fell to Nel soon after the interval but Sarel Burger and Gerrie Snyman fought back, Burger providing the anchor whilst Snyman played a characteristically bombastic knock, a strike rate of 87.2 and nine boundaries. They added 70 runs for the fifth wicket in 69 minutes, providing good entertainment after the dull morning. Wright then brought Ross Lyons back into the attack and he had Snyman stumped with his second ball. Namibia inexplicably collapsed as Lyons gained three more wickets and Hoffmann returned to dismiss the last two batsmen in consecutive balls. The last six wickets fell for only 25 runs. Dougie Lockhart trod on his stumps on the fifth ball of Scotland’s reply, Ian Stanger, an unusual choice as an opening partner, was caught by the wicketkeeper and Fraser Watts was out in the last over of the day, attempting a foolish run. In the meanwhile, Ryan Watson played well and ensured that Scotland were only 73 runs in arrears at the close with seven wickets in hand. The second day began as forecast with heavy rain, which lasted on and off most of the day. No play was possible until 4.00 pm and only 50 overs could be fitted in before the close. During that time Watson and Colin Smith added 177 runs at a good strike rate of 65.2. None of Namibia’s bowlers seemed threatening in what felt like near-freezing conditions, such was the level of wind-chill, and it was a surprise when Smith offered a catch to the wicketkeeper off the bowling of Deon Kotze, just before 7.00 pm. His innings of 70 was made in just over three hours and, surprisingly, did not contain a single boundary. Earlier Watson reached his century off 121 balls, a strike rate of 82.6, but his scoring rate slowed towards the end of the day. Nevertheless, he remained undefeated overnight with Scotland in a strong position, 106 runs ahead. The only concern was the weather forecast, which predicted more rain and raised the possibility that, as in 2005, it would prevent Scotland from securing maximum points. The third day saw the players on and off the field because of frequent showers. Both Scotland’s overnight batsmen were dismissed quickly and controversially as the conditions favoured the seam bowlers. Neil McCallum was given out caught by the wicketkeeper after the ball apparently hit his boot rather than his bat. Watson added only one more run to his total before falling leg-before to Kola Burger, even though the inswinging delivery was edged firmly off bat on to his pads. His 167 runs were made in just over four and a quarter hours, spread over three days, and included 23 fours and two sixes. Instead of going for quick runs, Wright and Nel took one hour and fifty minutes to put on 68 for the seventh wicket but, once their resistance was overcome, Namibia finished off the innings in four overs. Scotland’s bowlers then revelled in the conditions with Paul Hoffmann, moving the ball appreciably off the seam, taking the first five Namibian wickets for 14 runs in only nine overs. Three of the batsmen were bowled, Hoffmann breaking two stumps in a hostile spell, to which Namibia had no answer. Their batsmen had clearly no experience of such conditions. Once Hoffmann was rested, the tail added some respectability, Kola Burger hitting Lyons for three sixes in one over before being caught attempting a fourth, but Snyman was subdued, his 22 coming at a strike rate of only 31.8. When the innings ended for 127, Scotland had achieved an unexpectedly easy victory with over a day to spare and gained maximum points despite the rain. 88 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2006-07