Saturday 27 April 2013

The Fifth Post : Match Reports and Updates Kenya v Namibia

 
Adamski loves cricket #3


In this episode of Adamski loves cricket …
 
It’s an all Africa special as
Kenya and Namibia battle it out in the four day extravanagiza that is the intercontinental cup.
Plus, Kenya and Namibia go at it in not one but two world cricket league championship matches.
Plus all the referrals to the various points charts and table rankings that matter and we’ll call it an episode worth watching!!!
 
Hi there and welcome to Adamski loves cricket. Lets just say that I’m adamski and press on with a pretty packed episode.
We start with action from the intercontintal cup and the four day match between Kenya and Namibia.
 
 
You could say that this is a match up of fallen giants in the world outside the test boundary and not just an African associate nation derby. Both nations qualified for the 2003 world cup in South Africa. At the time Namibia were the new kids on the park and looked like they were on the rise and had plenty to offer. They gave England a good run and put in solid performances elsewhere to justify their inclusion and suggest they were going to be around, troubling full members for some time to come.
 
Since that early promise things haven’t progressed as fluently as they’d have liked and have fallen off the radar for a while there.
 
Things look back on the up for them now though and they were the surprise package at the T-20 qualifiers held in the U.A.E. back in march where they beat tournament favourites Ireland and Scotland before finishing 3rd in the competition, just out side the qualification zone as only the top two (Ireland and Afghanistan) went through to compete at the world T-20.
 
Kenya’s fall from grace has been harder as they had further to fall. In that same 2003 world cup in South Africa, Kenya were clearly the best of all the associate nations of the time (and many would say better than some full members who seemed to have been prematurely promoted.(yes, we’re looking at you Bangladesh) ) and Kenya set about proving that the rolling application to become a full member deserved to be taken seriously.
 
Making it to the semi finals of that world cup remains, to this day, the best an associate nation has ever managed in any world cup. Although they had some points gifted to them when New Zealand refused to play them in their own country due to security concerns they also defeated quality opposition in the form of Sri Lanka and also convincingly beat Bangladesh and Canada in the group stages and also Zimbabwe (back when Zimbabwe were a decent force in world cricket) in the super six stage.
 
It seemed like the dawning of a bright age for Kenya cricket and the joy and smiles and effervescent attitude of the Kenyan players, not to mention the great flair and easy talent they displayed drew comparisons with the West Indies of 20 years before. It was the look of a team with plenty of talent to refine and loads of energy and optimism to harness.
 
A decade of mismanagement later and those memories are nothing but rose coloured nostalgia as Kenya have been lost in a downward spiral for what seems like an eternity.
 
There are signs of stabilisation in their national board and also amongst the players but their talent pool has dwindled and suffered in the meantime while the general public in Kenya have lost interest in a game that has often suffered from being viewed as a hangover from the white colonial days.
 
I suspect that the road back to the heights of yesteryear are still some way in the future for Kenya but the upward journey has already started and they will be looking to this series against Namibia to continue the upward trend.
 
A quick look at the points table before this match begins shows 6th place Namibia with 23 points separated from 7th place Kenya, on 22, by only one point.
 
20 points for an outright victory will see either one of them jump up to 4th position while lesser points for a draw will see them kept in the middle of the pack, still in contention with the U.A.E. and The Netherlands.
 
And so to the game …
 
Day one. Incidentally, this match was due to be played in Mombasa in Kenya but was moved to Windhoek, Namibia, due to security concerns. But it is still nominally classed as a home game for Kenya.
 
Kenya won the toss and chose to bat. They get off to a solid start earning 45 runs for the first wicket before Davidson (making his debut for Namibia) claims Karim, caught behind for 9 in the 13th over.
 
The early momentum is then Namibia’s as they have Kenya at 71 for 3 before lunch. Kenya’s fight back in the remaining two sessions is fuelled by Tanmay Mishra and Collins Obuya whose 99 run partnership is the best of the innings.
 
It’s brought to an end when Obuya is out L.B.W. for 56. His half century contains eight 4’s.
Mishra pushes on towards his century and finds good support in Ouma, their partnership being the 2nd best for Kenya and worth 65 runs.
When Ouma is caught for 34 he is replaced by Varaly
a who also gives good support to the cause and to Mishra.
When Mishra century comes up late in the day (he is out in the last over of the day) his 108 runs have come from 200 balls and contains seventeen 4’s and his innings forms the backbone of the Kenyan batting.
 
Kenya close the days play on 297 for 7 to have the honours of the day about even.
 
Day 2.
Any hopes of Kenya’s tail waging are quickly dashed as Namibia wrap them up within 4 overs for the addition of only 7 runs to leave the Kenyans 1st innings total at 304.
 
Davidson on debut has bowling figures of 2 for 52 from 15 overs while Klazinga wrapping up of the tail gives him 3 for 56 from 19.3 overs. But its Viljoen figures that stand out the most despite having the least good economy rate he is trusted to bowl the most overs and ends with figures of 4 for 107 off 29 overs.
 
Namibia start their innings and set about making the most of good batting conditions before Kenya claim first blood in the 11th over. Van Vuuren out for 12 runs with the total on 34.
 
But where Namibia really take control of this match is during the 3rd wicket partnership between captain Sarel Burger and Craig Williams. Coming together with the score on 2 for 68 they combine to add 192 runs before burger falls to the leg spin of Collins Obuya for 85.
 
Williams pushes on having already passed his century he looks determined to go on and claim a double century.
 
Double century’s, even though they have happened in the past, are kinda rare. It’s a bit like beautiful naked ladies falling from the sky, or African princes actually transferring that money they promised you into your bank account … that reminds me (checks computer …) nope. He still hasn’t transferred anything into my account. I cant imagine what the hold up is, I gave him my sort code and everything!!!)
 
Anyway, when Williams eventually falls for 140 in the 84th over (just 4 runs short of his highest score) Namibia are 4/308 and already 4 runs ahead of Kenya’s 1st innings total .
 
Williams 140 comes off 194 balls and contains sixteen 4’s and three 6’s. and it was his 10th first class century.
 
Having claimed 1st innings points Namibia make sure there was no let up and Gerrie Snyman finished the day by hitting a massive 6 to bring up his run-a-ball half century in the last over of the day.
 
Namibia end the day on 343 for 4 a first innings lead over Kenya of 39 runs with plenty of batting yet to come.
 
Things look ominous for Kenya and unless they can wrap up the Namibian batting in double quick time on day three they look to be in real trouble.
 
Day 3.
Namibia resume at 343/4 and look to cement their standing by accelerating away. Kenya remove Van Schoor for 21 but by the fall of his wicket the Namibian score has moved onto 372/5 due to Snymans belligerence. He is in no mood to hang around and he is joined by Scholtz in a 6th wicket partnership worth 172 runs. It’s the second mammoth partnership of the innings for Namibia and it sidelines Kenya’s bowlers who are unable to provide an answer to the onslaught and they struggle to maintain control.
 
Scholtz contributed 66 runs to the 172 run partnership and when he is out Snyman steps up his assault on the hapless Kenyan bowlers up another gear. His desire for quick runs before a declaration leads his partnership with Viljoen to be worth 41 with a run rate of over 7 per over and his partnership with Klazinga is worth 45 with a run rate of 9 runs per over.
 
Unsurprisingly, Namibia declare their innings closed immediately after Snyman reaches his double century to remain 201 not out in a total of 630 for 7 declared.
 
(A double century eh … ? [Looks up to the sky for any beautiful naked ladies falling from the sky] let me check my bank account again … there’s even less money in this account now. It’s almost like that prince is taking money OUT of my account. But why would he do that, he’s already rich! [Last look up to the sky] no naked ladies either! Oh well!)
 
Its an outstanding innings from Snyman that never slowed down. His first 50 runs came off just 51 balls, his hundred off 102, his 150 off 150 balls and his double century comes off only 191 balls.
His 201 runs contains twenty-two 4’s and seven 6’s and successfully crushed Kenya’s hopes of looking for a victory.
 
The Odhiambo brothers were the best of the bowling for Kenya with seamer Nelson claiming 3 for 93 from 25 overs and Nehemiah Odhiambo claimed 2 for 144 from 25.5 overs … and we could spare the rest of the bowlers blushes by not examining the bowling figures any closer.
 
With a 1st innings lead of 326 (which is 22 runs more than Kenya managed in their entire first innings) this is a HUGE total for Kenya to deal with. It is impossible for them to win it (even with a day and a half left in the match there just isn’t enough time for that prospect) so the best they can hope for is batting out a draw.
 
A draw would enable them to claim some points from the match keeping them in challenging distance of the middle of the pack while not letting Namibia race up the table at the same time.
 
Passing the Namibians 1st innings total will also give Kenya some much needed confidence especially considering that they only managed to bat for just over one day in their 1st innings. But batting out a draw when Namibia can smell blood and taste the full 20 points victory will give them will be a big challenge.
Perhaps too big a challenge.
Let’s find out as Kenya look to bat out the remaining day 3.
 
Kenya 2nd innings (day 3)
Kenya start their 2nd innings cautiously as their openers try to build a solid base for a strong reply.
Obanda was the first wicket down though as he fell in the 13th over, caught behind off the bowling of Davidson, for 30, with the Kenyan total on 48. Duncan Allan stonewalled for 39 deliveries (earning 6 runs) before he was bowled with the total now on 2 for 98.
 
At the close of day 3 Kenya had reduced their deficit by 109 runs for the loss of 2 wickets.
This bodes well as it’s a better start than they have managed recently but with the deficit still 217 runs behind Namibia’s 1st innings total Kenya still have a steep uphill battle on their hands.
 
Day 4.
Kenya start the day with the intention of batting it out and forcing a draw but they are dealt a sever blow when opener Karim is out, caught, in the 3rd over of the day. His innings ends on 59 runs off 127 balls and contains nine 4’s.
 
Collins Obuya shows some resistance but when he is out, caught behind off the bowling of Burger, for 46 Kenya have lost one of their last remaining hopes and they go in to lunch with 5 wickets down and hope of saving the match fading.
 
Mishra provides the main resistance of the Kenyan batting again and his century in the 1st innings is complemented by a half century in the 2nd innings as he doggedly stuck around for 151 deliveries for his 51 runs.
 
He was let down by his partners though as batsmen came and went around him, often getting starts but failing to have any staying power.
 
#10 batsman Nehemiah Odhiambo offered some late innings fireworks striking 31 off 46 balls as the game within a game became seeing if Kenya could even make it past Namibia’s first innings score make Namibia bat again.
 
In the end Kenya couldn’t even manage that as Mishra is the last man out, losing his wicket with the score on 325, just one run behind the Namibians first innings total.
 
Which means that Namibia win this match with a full innings to spare (and one run) and claim the full 20 points.
 
It’s a crushing victory set up by Snymans massive double century in the first innings [looks up…] aided by some ill disciplined Kenyan bowling, that allowed Namibia to race away to a huge 1st innings lead that kenyas ill disciplined batting failed to overhaul.
 
The bowling star in Namibia blowing away Kenyas 2nd innings are Viljoen with 3 for 72 off 28 overs and Klazinga with 3 for 82 off 19.1 overs. Thay and all the Namibian bowlers kept good lines and are rewarded with wickets at regular intervals as Kenya buckled under the pressure.
 
Namibia walk away with the full 20 points for the victory which propels them all the way up the table into 4th place on the intercontental cup points table.
Their 43 points is only 1 point behind 3rd place Afghanistan who in turn are only 2 points behind Scotland.
 
Ireland’s 21 point lead in this table may look solid but as we have just seen an outright victory can have massive permutations.
 
We have just passed the half way mark of the I-cup as each team plays 7 games in total. So with 3 games each remaining every single game must be regarded as a massive one.
 
Even lowly Canada with their only 10 points coming form an abandoned wash out in Scotland are still mathematically in it … although hypothetical maths and realities ability are two very different things.
 
Sorry Canada.
Perhaps you can show me up when you battle Kenya for the bottom of the table in the near future.
 
Speaking of Kenya, they remain in 7th place on 22 points, exactly where they were before this game started.
Still waiting for their glory days to return.
 
Perhaps their chance will come in the one day format of the world cricket league championship!!!
 
Let’s find out as it to this competition that we turn our attention to now.
 
First, to the points table …
 
Ireland out in front heading up the top of the table. Scotland, The Netherlands, U.A.E. and Afghanistan trail closely behind but our attention is drawn to lower end of the table where our encounter takes place with Kenya in 6th place on 4 points and Namibia, with only one win from six attempts are last on the table, below even Canada.
 
Kenya will want revenge for their recent I-cup loss and both teams will want all the points available in this two game series to raise themselves into a better position to challenge for the top 2 places.
 
Remember, only the top two teams gain automatic entry to the 2015 world cup in Australia / New Zealand. The rest have to go to another qualifining tournament where thay are joined by many other nations hopeful of progressing up the ranks of international cricket and also gain a rare berth at a world cup.
 
Anyway, onto the games.
 
Kenya win the toss and chose to bowl first and this time the bowlers stick to their task and get quick results for it. The Odhiambo brothers take five top order batsmen between them. Nehemiah Odhiambo claimed both the openers and with the unnessary run out of of namabian captain, Sarel Burger, Namibia were 3 for 15 inside the first 10 overs. Nelson Odhiambo took out the middle order not allowing the Namibian batsmen to gain any momentum at all and they were 6 for 80 by the 25 over halfway point.
 
The remaining bowlers took the remain wickets to bowl Namibia out in the 42nd over for a lowly total of 129 (at a run rate of less than 3 per over) to leave them with an underwhelming and easily chasable total.
 
Namibia managed to dislodge both the Kenyan openers before the score had reached 40 but with such a low total to chase could never apply enough pressure to control the game and Kenya crused to a 6 wicket victory inside 31 overs. Tanmay Mishra top scored with an unbeaten 34.
 
So, a good comeback from Kenya to extract revenge for their thumping in the I-cup. They take the 2 points and a whole bunch of confidance into game two.
 
Wcl. Game 2.
 
Namibia win the toss this time, and they also choose to bowl first.
And when they take first blood, Allan caught behind for only 4 runs in the fith over, it looks like a good decision.
But Alex Obanda has different ideas and joins in a 2nd wicket partnership with Karim worth 80 runs.
Karim departs for 23, caught and bowled by Viljoen, with the Kenya total on 2 for 99. viljoen strikes again soon after to remove Obanda, his 2nd of three wickets for him. Obanda’s 71 comes of 67 balls and contains seven 4’s and three 6’s and looks to have given Kenya a platform to push on with.
 
However, this is where the rot set in for Kenya and from a decent position of 2 for 113inside 20 overs they squander a good platform. Eight Kenyan wickets go down for 74 runs to leave them folding like cheep deck chairs on a windy day. Only captain Collins Obuya shows any resistance in the middle order and his dogged 26 is the 2nd highest score in an underwhelming total of 187 all out with 7.5 overs remaining in the innings.
 
Namibias bowlers all chiped in with Klazinga, Scholtz and Opperman claiming two wickets each but it’s the medium pace of Viljoen that claimes the best figures with 3 for 40 off his full 10 overs and started the downward slide for Kenya.
 
This game is almost a reverse of the previous one as this time the Namibians chase starts smoothly with the operners putting on 59 in 63 balls before Van Schoor is out L.B.W. in the 11th over for 32.
 
Van Der Westhuizen is out in the next over for a duck but captain Burgher is all calm and sets about a 50 run stand with Opperman.
 
Opperman is out short of his half century for 45 but his wicket brings Williams to the crease who wastes no time in chasing down the remaining runs and his 59 off 60 balls seals the victory with seven wickets in hand and 48 balls remaining.
 
The Odhiambo brothers claimed one wicket each with leg spinner Collins Obuya claiming the only other wicket but there’s nothing else worth mentioning in the Kenyan bowling.
Mind you, Ngoche bowled 9 overs for only 20 runs giving him excellent economy rate of just 2.22 runs per over. No wickets though and its only wickets that would have won this game for Kenya.
 
Its been a topsy turvey series and Namibia having received a thumping in the first game now dish out a thumping in return.
 
Honours even then?
 
I suppose it will have to be and the struggle both of these teams face to move up the table and regain former glories will continue to move forward, just very, very slowly as they both take only 2 points each away from this series
 
A quick glance at the points table after these games show…
… not much movement really.
Kenya still in 6t place, a little closer to the main pack but still some way to go before they can be considered serious contenders.
 
Namibia, for their part have at least moved off the bottom of the barrel and are now one off the bottom, pushing Canada into the muck.
 
Canada are now last in both the world cricket league championship and the I-cup competitions and things look bleak for them unless they find a rich vein of form sometime soon.
 
Mind you, there are 14 games to be played by each nation. With eight played we are only just over the halfway mark. Six games remain, two points per victory (12 points), add the three the Canadians already have = 15 points.
Theoretically Canada could still top this table … but that’s just a theory. Reality may have something else to say about that.
But my point is that this comp is still pretty open with plenty of teams in contention for a top two finish and a trip to oz for the world cup.
 
Well, that about wraps up this edition of Adamski loves cricket. Plenty of good stuff there, the highlight being Snyman’s double century in the I-cup… a rare and impressive feat …[looking up]… almost as rare as beautiful naked women falling from the sky… (sigh) … join me next time for a special edition as we look at how the associate nation Ireland and affiliate nation Afghanistan compete at the world T-20 in Sri Lanka, but for now… thanks for watching … [something falls from the sky and lands beside the host… it’s a naked lady who gets up and walks off screen !!!] [shocked look, the host waves goodbye and walks off screen, following !!!]
 
Or …
 
, but for now… thanks for watching … [something falls from the sky and lands beside the host… it’s a naked man who gets up and walks off screen!!!] [shocked look, the host turns back to screen] … let me just check my bank balance to see if that prince really has come through for me … now my account is completely empty , its almost like he took money out instead … now I’m broke … [looks after naked man off-screen]
Oh well, beggars cant be choosers … byeeeeeeeeeeeeee !!!
 
[waves goodbye and walks off screen!!!]
 
 
 
 
(If you want to see if I managed to get a man or a woman to get naked for me, (or if you don’t like reading), click on the video below to find out.)