ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

NAMIBIA v CANADA With debutants at numbers two and three in the batting order and Gerrie Snyman being asked to come in at number four, Namibia looked weaker in batting than in past matches, but the captain, Bjorn Kotze, had confidence in his side in home conditions and chose to bat first. When Jan-Berrie Burger edged Henry Osinde to the wicketkeeper with the score on 17, the pressure was on the two new players. Raymond van Schoor responded impressively with nine fours in his 46 whilst Michael Durant was more subdued. The pair added 59 off 94 balls but then both fell in quick succession to the medium pace of Durand Soraine. Gerrie Snyman marked his promotion by displaying more caution than usual but he and Bjorn Kotze still put on 53 off 87 balls with four fours and six sixes. When Snyman gave a catch to Sunil Dhaniram to give Soraine his third wicket and Deon Kotze went without scoring, the match was evenly poised with Namibia on 135 for five, but the rest of the day belonged to the home team. Bjorn Kotze and Nicholaas Scholtz played with determination in a sixth-wicket stand of 94 in 115 minutes. Canada used eight bowlers in an attempt to break through. When Scholtz fell to the off spin of Jason Patraj, there was no respite because Tobias Verwey struck 49 off 48 balls in contributing to an undefeated partnership of 85 with Bjorn Kotze. Namibia strengthened their position on the second morning as the overnight partnership was extended to 100 and Kotze reached his maiden first-class century after facing 275 balls. Once Verwey was out, Kotze received valuable support from Kola Burger, whose 47 came at a strike rate of 88.6, and Louis Klazinga, who helped add 58 for the last wicket before, nine overs after lunch, Namibia declared for their highest innings score in the competition and the highest conceded by Canada. Kotze had batted over six and a half hours for his undefeated 163, an astonishing feat of endurance for a player who was previously considered no more than a useful lower-order batsman. Namibia looked to be in complete control after Klazinga took two wickets with only 33 runs on the board. Qaiser Ali made a useful start while adding 50 with Mohammad Iqbal but he succumbed to the pace of Iaan van Zyl. Arvind Kandappah and Mohammad Iqbal, aided by some poor catching, laid the foundation for a strong Canadian reply with a partnership of 149 in only 110 minutes and 168 balls but, in the penultimate over of the day, Kandappah became a victim of Michael Durant, the ninth bowler used by the home team. Mohammad Iqbal was batting well though, not out 119 at the close, to give Canada hope for the third day. Resuming on 233 for four, Canada gave a pitiful display, losing their last six wickets while adding only 53 runs, against some aggressive pace bowling by Snyman, Klazinga and van Zyl. Snyman ended Mohammad Iqbal’s resistance and then accounted very quickly for the last three wickets to give him a return of four for 63. Mohammad Iqbal accounted for 48.9% of Canada’s runs, hitting 22 fours and one six in an innings of 140 off 195 balls. Following on, Canada lost Abdul Jabbar with the score on 21 and at lunch were 27 for one. After the interval Mohammad Iqbal was forced to retire hurt, having made 13. Qaiser Ali made another promising start but was unable to build on it, falling leg-before to van Zyl. Mohammad Iqbal returned and with Trevin Bastiampillai added 125 either side of the tea interval. With the score on 192, Bastiampillai edged Klazinga to the wicketkeeper and, after Mohammad Iqbal departed seven runs later, the Canadian middle order folded. With six wickets down at the close and a lead of only 41, defeat looked inevitable. Canada added 20 runs on the morning of the fourth day before Snyman bowled Umar Bhatti. Dhaniram and Aftab Shamshudeen went for quick runs, which were enough to take the asking total for Namibia beyond 100, but insufficient to extend the resistance into the afternoon. Namibia were batting before lunch which was taken on 14 for one, Osinde getting van Schoor to edge to the wicketkeeper. Durant was run out soon after the interval but Snyman and Jan-Berrie Burger made the remaining 67 runs in under seven overs, Snyman hitting four fours and three sixes in his 38, contributing to an impressive strike rate of 253.3. Namibia finished easy winners in the middle of the afternoon. 132 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08