ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

BERMUDA v NAMIBIA A closely-fought first day ended with just a slight advantage to Namibia. Batting first, they made a sound, if slow, start with an opening partnership of 60 between Deon Kotze and Jan-Berrie Burger, the latter scoring 70% of the runs at a strike rate of 91.3. The Bermudan pace attack of Ryan Steede and Stefan Kelly made the occasional ball move and bounce off the surface, but it was somewhat of a surprise when Kelly trapped Jan-Berrie Burger leg-before. An unfortunate back injury to Steede caused Bermuda’s captain, Irving Romaine, to use his spinners earlier than expected but Dwayne Leverock immediately made the ball turn and took two more wickets whilst only 15 more runs were made. Sarel Burger, however, anchored the innings and with Gerrie Snyman in typically aggressive form, the pair added 68 for the fourth wicket, 58 of these coming from Snyman with two fours and six sixes contributing to a strike rate of 87.8. Useful contributions came from Bjorn Kotze and Tobias Verwey, the latter’s 34 coming off 33 balls. Although Leverock took the early wickets, it was Delyone Borden and Rodney Trott who worked their way through the middle order and tail. Sarel Burger was still undefeated at the close, having managed five boundaries in his 71 made off 225 balls. Louis Klazinga was his partner. Bermuda’s bowlers were unable to prevent Namibia’s last pair from making a sizeable tenth-wicket partnership as another 40 runs were added to bring it to 56. Surprisingly, Sarel Burger continued his anchor role and left the scoring to the number 11, Klazinga. He responded by taking his score to 30, at which point Burger’s vigil ended when he gave a catch to Lionel Cann at first slip and a third wicket to Leverock. In all, he faced 281 balls for his 86 runs. Bermuda made 59 before the first wicket fell, Oronde Bascombe succumbing leg-before to Kola Burger. Jekon Edness and Chris Douglas raised this to 91 when, just before tea, a rainstorm ended play for the day. Namibia’s bowlers gave a poor display, bowling either too short on a pitch which did not respond, or too wide. Their erratic efforts were not aided by eight no-balls in the first four overs. In contrast, Bermuda batted positively with Edness striking Sarel Burger for two straight sixes. In a striking contrast to the second day, Bermuda gave an inept performance with the bat and took a long time in doing so. Only three runs were added before Edness fell to the off spin of Deon Kotze, the first of nine wickets to fall for 81 runs. Bermuda’s batsmen could not decide whether survival or aggression was the right approach and, in both cases, the result was a failure. Douglas faced 105 balls, but accumulated only 22 runs, and Steven Outerbridge took 65 balls to make 16 runs; Stefan Kelly lasted 50 balls but made only 6, a strike rate of 1.2. In contrast Cann struck 10 runs, was dropped once, and, in all, lasted a mere 11 balls before attempting to drive Klazinga back over his head and offering a catch to Kola Burger at mid on. Namibia dropped three catches in total and should have run out Douglas at least twice but Bermuda failed to take advantage of these errors and yielded Namibia a first-innings lead of 145 runs. Although the scorecard gives the impression that Bermuda’s bowlers succeeded in restoring some pride, wickets fell quickly because Namibia were after quick runs and a declaration. Batting was certainly awkward, however, as Kelly benefited from the unpredictable bounce off the pitch as balls either skidded through ankle-height or bounced over the batsman’s head; at the other end, Leverock made the ball turn considerably. Despite falling to 61 for six, Namibia persevered with their policy and were rewarded as Snyman and Verwey both scored rapidly, enabling the declaration to come during the evening session. Set a target of 299 runs, Bascombe again fell when looking set but Kelly, coming in as nightwatchman, survived with Edness to the close. Edness and Kelly began well on the last morning, adding a further 36 runs before the latter, perhaps getting over-confident, was stumped by Verwey. Inexplicably, Bermuda’s batsmen failed to consolidate the position and four wickets fell for 11 runs. Outerbridge played well for his 78, made at a strike rate of 66.6, and was assisted by Borden, Trott and Leverock, all of whom defied the bowling for considerable periods. On a pitch taking turn and with Jan-Berrie Burger and Deon Kotze taking advantage of the conditions, it was only a matter of time before Bermuda’s tail was dismissed. If the middle order had shown some determination and ability, Bermuda might have drawn the game and Namibia’s use of nine bowlers might have been justified. Jan-Berrie Burger took six wickets to give him eight for 61 for the match; Deon Kotze’s three wickets gave him seven for 62. 166 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08