ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

IRELAND v NAMIBIA With 3.05 mm of rain falling on the day before the match and a further 2.03 mm on the opening day, it was not surprising that there was no play until 10.30 am on day two, the start time having been brought forward by half-an-hour. In muggy damp conditions with a chill wind, it was equally unsurprising that, on winning the toss, Trent Johnston invited the Namibians to bat, especially after their performance against Scotland indicated their inability to cope. Within nine overs, Namibia were reduced to 24 for five before Ireland’s progress was halted by Deon Kotze and Hugo Ludik. They offered tedious resistance for 61 minutes in a partnership of 21 runs, mainly against the bowling of David Langford-Smith and Andre Botha, who were unable to obtain the same degree of movement off the pitch as Johnston and Paul Mooney; however, eight of the 14 overs in the stand were maidens. Following the dismissal of both batsmen, the scoring rate underwent a revolution with the arrival of Kola Burger, who struck Botha for four sixes and a four in one over, altering Botha’s analysis from 8-7-2-0 to 9-7-30-0! In a partnership of 40 runs from 31 balls, Louis van der Westhuizen contributed 3, before he called for a foolish run. Burger’s effort ended in the next over and the innings closed soon after, Johnston finishing with a highly impressive return of six wickets for 23 off only 9.5 overs. Despite greater familiarity with the conditions, Ireland did not find batting any easier as Kola Burger and Ian van Zyl seemed to enjoy the opportunity to show their skill at seam bowling. Both were very accurate and gained sufficient movement to be troublesome. Ireland were grateful to the return of the rain one over before tea, which prevented further play for the day. The overnight rain delayed the start of the third day by 73 minutes after which, in really cold conditions – the maximum temperature for the day reached 15.4°C – Namibia came back into the game, taking four wickets in 4.4 overs, all falling to van Zyl. Rescue came first through Johnston and Gary Wilson, whose partnership saw Ireland take first-innings lead and pass the hundred, and then through Johnston and Mooney who added 58 runs in a stand either side of the lunch interval. Johnston was the dominant player in both partnerships. Altogether, he batted for nearly two and a half hours, achieved a strike rate of 58.6, and hit nine fours; his 71 accounted for 95% of the runs made while he was at the crease. Ireland were undoubtedly helped by the strange decision of Deon Kotze not to bowl Kola Burger and van Zyl immediately after lunch. Once van Zyl returned to the attack, he dismissed Johnston and Langford-Smith to end the innings, leaving Mooney on 12 not out for an effort lasting one hour and a half. Van Zyl finished with eight wickets for 34 runs, the best return by a Namibian bowler in international cricket. Namibia began their second innings at 3.00 pm and after only 14 overs had lost any chance of winning the match, as the sixth wicket went down with only 22 runs scored. Ludik and van der Westhuizen restored some respectability with a stand of 35, but it took 14 overs of dour resistance before van der Westhuizen became the only player in the match to fall to spin bowling, when he drove Kyle McCallan’s fourth ball to Jeremy Bray, now fielding at short mid off, having just bowled three overs of medium-pace seam. Wilson took over behind the stumps. Kola Burger batted with the same intent as in the first innings, hitting McCallan out of the attack with four sixes and two fours. The onslaught was brought to an end, however, at 5.40 pm when the rain returned with Namibia leading by 31 runs with three wickets in hand. Although only just over 1.0 mm of rain fell overnight, it was on very wet ground and mopping up the outfield and the pitch surrounds, so that they were playable, seemed to take ages. Play did not get under way until 2.30 pm and there were concerns that the weather would prevent Ireland from obtaining maximum points. Kola Burger played very defensively, as though hoping that, with the help of the weather, Namibia could hold out for a draw. It took 14 overs for Ireland to obtain the three remaining wickets. Kola Burger was the first to depart, finally unable to restrain himself and going for a big heave over long on which fell short and into the hands of Peter Gillespie; his two innings accounted for 38% of his side’s runs in the match. Although Ireland needed only 54 runs to win, they were made to work hard as they lost four wickets for 25 runs. After seventeen overs, however, van Zyl and Kola Burger needed to be rested and Eoin Morgan and Gillespie batted sensibly, until Morgan inexplicably skied a return catch to Deon Kotze. Gillespie and Johnston took Ireland to victory at 5.00 pm. 90 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2006-07