Scotland’s Men took the final seven Namibia wickets for just 66 runs as they showed their battling qualities to win the CWCL2 encounter in Kirtipur on Monday.
The Scots emerged triumphant by 43 runs, as they bowled out Namibia for 178 defending a total 221. The win was Scotland’s 24th in 35 ODI matches during this elongated competition.
The sign of a good team – and an evolving one – is to come out on top in matches when you are perhaps not at your very best. Scotland are already assured of topping the CWCL2 standings, but wanted to make it two wins from two on this trip against Namibia while also bouncing back from Friday’s loss to Nepal.
Head coach Shane Burger said: “We are happy with the victory, it wasn’t the ideal display, but it shows real character when you can win in that way.
“It was also pleasing, after losing the toss, to defend our total as it has tended to be a bit easier for the teams chasing at this ground in recent days.
“From a batting point of view, it was good to see Chris McBride get off to a good start and post a good score [47]. He is playing well at the moment and getting starts, so going forward I’m sure he can go on and get some big scores.
“It was also good to see Liam Naylor on debut [20] get a start, but along with Chris and some other lads he would have wanted to kick on once he was set.
“In terms of the bowling, we knew we had to be disciplined and I didn’t think we were throughout, we didn’t put pressure on their batters all of the time.
“However, having said that I was really impressed with the way Michael Leask [3-42] bowled and he has put in three great performances on this trip and is continuing to show his worth as a cricketer, he genuinely is a world class player.
“And then Mark Watt [4-41] managed to get breakthroughs and keep the Namibians under pressure.
“I’m particularly happy with the fightback, we were under pressure a couple of times during that game and managed to come back and now we are looking forward to the final game of our trip on Tuesday against Nepal in front of what will likely be a large crowd.”
Burger handed an ODI debut to 21-year-old Liam Naylor and he opened the batting alongside the restored Kyle Coetzer.
Coetzer’s day at the crease did not last long though, being caught behind off the third ball of the match with Tangeni Lungameni the bowler.
Naylor then showed his potential with 20 off 21 balls – including four 4s – in a 38 run partnership with Chris McBride, before he was bowled by Ruben Trumpelmann.
McBride went on to make his highest ODI score of 47 off 75 balls before he was caught by Lungameni off Pikky Ya France’s bowling.
Scotland were 82-3 in the 22nd over, and when Matthew Cross followed McBride back to the pavilion six overs later, they were 107-4.
A further 30 runs were added before skipper Richie Berrington was out LBW to Bernard Scholtz for 32 and when Brandon McMullen followed him soon after it was 145-6.
Two Mackintosh, winning just his second cap at this level, then showed great maturity to steady the ship.
The 20-year-old made 34 off 48 balls until he was caught behind off the bowling of Ben Shikongo to leave things at 180-7 in the 43rd over.
Another 41 runs were added, Michael Leask leading the way with 29 including two 6s, before the Scots were 221 all out in the 49th over.
Trumpelmann, who was named Player of the Match, was the star with the ball for Namibia with career best figures in this format of 5-30.
In reply, spinner Mark Watt had Karl Birkenstock stuck LBW in the seventh over and when Leask got in on the action and had Shaun Fouché caught behind Namibia were 52-2 in the 12th over.
Lo-handre Louwrens and Gerhard Erasmus, the skipper, then put on 60 for the third wicket before Leask expertly caught and bowled the former for a well-made 52.
That wicket gave Scotland a massive boost and when McMullen caught Erasmus (43) off the bowling of Watt and then Leak bowled Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton it was 130-5.
Soon it became 141-6, 144-7 and 159-8 as Scotland began to sense victory.
McMullen took the ninth wicket and then Watt finished things off, having Namibia wicketkeeper Zane Green caught by Safyaan Sharif for 25 as they were all out for 178.
Watt took 4-41, Leask 3-42, McMullen 2-39 and Chris Greaves 1-26.
Scotland’s final match of this tour – and their final outing in this Cricket World Cup League Two competition – is on Tuesday morning when they face Nepal in Kirtipur at 0900 local time (0315 GMT).
After the match there will be a presentation of the CWCL2 trophy to the Scotland squad for finishing top of the standings.
All matches are available to watch on ICC TV, head to https://app.icc.tv/schedule for more information.
