• Home
• /
• Cricket

Namibian Burger sizzles; UAE and Bermuda cruise

DUBAI - Bermuda and Namibia secured victories on day two of Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 2 (WCL Div. 2) here in Dubai on Saturday.

The UAE defeated Papua New Guinea (PNG) by 114 runs, while Hong Kong fell at the hands of Bermuda and Namibia compensated for yesterday’s defeat to the UAE by defeating Uganda by 205 runs.

All three games saw centuries from players, with Namibia’s Craig Williams, UAE’s Shaiman Anwar and Bermuda’s Jason Anderson all reaching triple figures, while Namibia bowler Kola Burger shone with the ball for the African side claiming 5-25 on the second day of the event being hosted in the UAE.

At Dubai Sports City Stadium, Uganda won the toss and put Namibia into bat hoping for a repeat of yesterday’s batting collapse by the Africans and it seemed like the Namibians bad luck remained to begin with, as Ewald Steenkamp departed for 15 runs and his replacement at the crease, Sarel Burger, dismissed for a duck.

It was up to skipper Craig Williams to turn the game around, which is exactly what he did making the side’s first century of this tournament, before being immediately bowled by Uganda’s Deusdedit Muhumza. Following on from Williams’ century, the team added another 47 runs, with a notable performance from Gerrie Snyman who hit 85 runs in his innings that featured five boundaries and four sixes.

Uganda’s bowlers failed to sparkle with the ball today, despite some good fielding, with Muhumza being the pick of the bowling attack with 3-51.

Where Uganda’s bowling had failed, Namibia’s excelled in the afternoon heat of the stadium, with Kola Burger ripping his way through the Uganda batting line-up with his medium-pacers tempting the Uganda batsmen to smash the ball into the safe hands of Namibia’s fielders.

It was an abysmal batting display by Namibia’s African neighbours with Benjamin Musoke making 28 and the next best performance coming from Lawrence Sematimba with just 15 runs. Christi Viljoen proved useful with the ball today with the 23-year-old claiming a couple of wickets to help skittle the Uganda team for a measly 67 runs.

After a disappointing loss to PNG yesterday, Bermuda opted to bat against Hong Kong in the hopes of posting a decent total for the Division 3 winners to chase. It was down to captain David Hemp and his team to turn the side’s fortunes around after yesterday’s loss and Hemp began the side’s innings well, making 36 runs while his opening partner Dion Stovell managed only eight runs after falling at the hands of Nadeem Ahmed.

Jason Anderson broke through the ranks for the Americas side, scoring the team’s first century of the tournament. The 32-year-old arrived at the crease in the second over and remained until the end of the innings to finish 106 not out before lunch.

Anderson was ably assisted in adding to the side’s total by veteran batsman Lionel Cann who smashed a half-century in 35 balls, hitting four boundaries and two sixes in the process.

Hong Kong’s Hussain Butt secured the two run-outs of the day – of Hemp and Irving Romaine, but Hong Kong’s bowlers failed to repeat it’s economical bowling figures of the day before, with Nizkat Khan’s bowling proving to be expensive with 1-41 in comparison to his 4-14 yesterday.

In reply, Hong Kong’s Roy Lansam made amends for yesterday’s performance with the bat, with the 30-year-old smashing seven boundaries on his way to 40 runs. However, the right-handed batsman was not assisted in the run chase by his fellow top-order batsmen with only captain Najeeb Amar adding runs of note.

Bermuda’s bowlers – Damali Bell and Rodney Trott walked away with the prize wickets of Courtney Kruger, Nizakat and Waqar Barkat to name but a few while Delyone Borden walked away with the wicket of schoolboy Mark Chapman whom he clean bowled for just five runs.

The target proved too great for the promoted Hong Kong side to chase down coupled with the Asian team losing its last four wickets in just 20 minutes and some economical bowling by the Bermudians helped secure the side its first win of the tournament.

Despite not batting its full 50-overs against PNG, United Arab Emirates continues to prove itself to be a force to be reckoned with in this tournament securing its second win of the event. Swapnil Patil and Arshad Ali set the pace for the team but PNG’s steady bowling provided little opportunity for the batsmen.

But the arrival of Shaiman Anwar at the crease proved worthwhile for the UAE when the 32-year-old smashed his way to 123 runs in an innings that featured 13 boundaries and five sixes. Despite a good day with the bat yesterday, UAE captain Khurram Khan departed for a duck and Amjad Ali toiled for his 41 runs before being caught Jack Vare.

Mahuru Dai continued to impress with the ball, with the 26-year-old medium pacer taking a respectable 4-56 but strong running between the wickets by the UAE side saw the PNG bowling attack struggle to contain the run-making locals.

In reply, PNG’s Chris Amini started the side off well after the departure of Tony Ura for just seven runs, but tight bowling by the UAE attack saw the side slip to 5-68 in the 20^th over and despite a spirited fight-back from the PNG lower order duo Andrew McIntosh and Hitolo Areni, Rarura Dikana’s men just could reach the target.

Today is a rest day with play resuming on Monday.