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Hosts Namibia were too good for Jersey, as they registered 8 wicket win on the fourth day of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier Play-off in Namibia.
Namibia carried the momentum from yesterday's win to their new-ball performance on Thursday, with Ben Shikongo, Ruben Trumpelmann and Ben Scholtz each striking to leave Jersey at 32/3 after 11 overs. Following this, Jonty Jenner and Josh Lawrenson provided the European team with 80 runs from 104 balls, making them the team's heroes. The pair levelled the playing field, but just as Jersey appeared to be tightening the screws on Namibia, Shikongo bowled a scorching inswinger to dismiss Lawrenson. Hereafter, Namibia got wickets at regular intervals. By the time Jenner was dismissed in the 44th over after having compiled a useful 73, the Eagles had ensured that a score of 220, a realistic possibility at the 40th over mark, was beyond Jersey's reach. The tournament's hosts were subsequently beaten early on in their pursuit. Within the first four overs, they lost both openers Shaun Fouche (zero) and Nikolaas Davin (ten). Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus arrived at this time and continued to play in the same manner as he had yesterday. After settling in for a few overs, Erasmus made his intentions known by launching back-to-back fours off Julius Sumerauer in the seventh over. Michael van Lingen also took off and took advantage of the situation. He had scored a duck and one goal in Namibia's first two games. Namibia scored 155/2 at the midway point, giving the impression that Namibia was batting on a different strip than the Eagles. After this, the victory was really a formality, as Namibia completed the task in 32.1 overs. In an uninterrupted 198-run partnership with Erasmus, van Lingen struck his fourth ODI century and went undefeated on 88. With this significant victory, Namibia have gained two important points in addition to raising its net run rate. This gives the African squad a huge advantage in their pursuit of a top-two finish in the competition. (ANI)
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