Game 1: PNG v Namibia WCL2 live blog

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Well that wraps it up from the Wanderers. After being rolled for 118, PNG put up a good fight with the ball – Pokana and Ravu made early inroads, then Amini ripped out the middle order and left Namibia wobbling. But Jan Frylinck, coming in at a worrying 88/7, backed up his 3/16 earlier with a valuable 23* off 20 deliveries to guide the Africans home and collect the man of the match award.

That’s the game! Smit finishes the job! Thumps Amini through mid-on for 4 to seal a tense victory.

Over 30.0 – Namibia 113/7. Frylinck taking his team home here. Flips a pull shot round the corner as Ravu drops a little short. PNG heads dropping.

Over 29.0 – Namibia 107/7. Big over for Namibia! Amini back on and drops short. Frylinck launches him for the first 6 of the tournament with a massive blow that sailed over cow corner and out of the ground. Followed up by punching a lovely drive through mid-off.

Over 28.0 – Namibia 96/7. Vala drops short and thumped away by a muscular Frylinck pull shot. Can’t afford to give away runs like again.

Over 27.0 – Namibia 91/7. Vala hustles through the rest of his over, then Soper follows up with another constricting over.

Over 25.2 – wicket! Captain Vala brings himself on and immediately strikes! Slides a flattish offspinner past the swiping reverse sweep of Birkenstock and it thuds into the back pad. Umpire takes a moment to think about it then sends the batsman on his way.

Over 25.0 – Namibia 88/6. Chad Soper finally on to bowl. Springy medium-fast and wedded to his nagging top-of-off line.

Over 24.0 – Namibia 87/6. Ravu keeps his lines tight until the last ball, when he strays onto the hips and Smit is able to tuck him round the corner for 2.

Over 23.0 – Namibia 85/6. Birkenstock dispatches Amini on the reverse sweep; manages to thread it through a packed field to the rope. Quality shot.

Over 22.0 – Namibia 77/6. Missed runout chaos! Ravu back into the attack and Smit punches into the covers. A mixup follows, with Birkenstock not interested and sending him back, but Smit makes it to the non-striker’s end by the time the fielder collects. A wild throw flies past the exasperated keeper Doriga and the Namibians manage to scamper 2 in the confusion.

Over 21.0 – Namibia 74/6. Amini hustles through another over.

Over 20.0 Namibia 73/6. New man JJ Smit (RHB) looks good as he collects 4 for a lovely back foot punch through backward point.

Over 19.2 – wicket! Viljoen clips Vanua nicely off his pads and they run 2, but a mixup on the third sees Viljoen sent back by Birkenstock and he is adjudged out of his crease by umpire Odhiambo. Not happy with that has he trudges off.

Over 19.0 – Namibia 65/5. Raucous appeal for LBW turned down first ball, then Birkenstock somehow contrives to win a leg bye off a reverse sweep. Almost falls over in a heap as he loses balance and the ball ricochets high to third man.

Over 18.0 – Namibia 63/5. Vanua back into the attack and a chance goes begging! Feather edge from Viljoen on the leg glance, but a diving Kiplin Doriga can’t cling on and it ricochets from his outstretched glove to the rope at fine leg. Drinks taken.

Over 17.0 – Namibia 58/5. New man Viljoen (RHB) shows his intention with a smart punch through backward point off a shorter ball. Sloppy fielding after a wicket.

Over 16.3 – wicket! Williams gone too now, as Amini bowled him round his legs. Very crafty dismissal and PNG are back in the game now!

Over 16.0 – Namibia 53/4. PNG now a lot more animated in the field, oohing and aahing at every defensive shot. Huge appeal off new man Karl Birkenstock (LHB) as Ravu slams into his pads, but umpire unmoved.

Over 15.0 – Namibia 52/4. Williams takes advantage of a looser delivery to push Amini firmly through the covers to the rope.

Over 14.2 – wicket! Erasmus beaten through the air by Amini as swings tamely towards leg. Ball lobs up and Jason Kila moves round to take a comfortable catch at midwicket.

Over 14.0 – Namibia 47/3. Cool heads on display as Williams and Erasmus rotate the strike .

Over 13.0 – Namibia 43/3. Captain Gerhard Erasmus and senior batsman Craig Williams (both RHB) are at the crease now. Namibia won’t be too worried with these two in, but if PNG can nip them out we’ll have a game on our hands.

Over 12.5 – wicket! Amini strikes with a fizzing legbreak that spins past the defensive bat of Bredenkamp to knock back the off stump. Classic legspinner’ delivery and PNG erupt into whoops. Good breakthrough but lots more to do here.

Over 11.4 – wicket! Ravu gets Baard! The Namibian leans forward with a wafting defensive prod and the ball takes the edge. Regulation catch to Vala at first slip.

Over 11.0 – Namibia 42/1. Amini hustles through another over. Understandable that he’s flattening his trajectory to slow the runrate, but PNG need wickets here.

Over 10.0 – Namibia 40/1. Ravu causing Baard some troubles as he jags one back under his bat, then raps him in front for a huge appeal that doesn’t sway the umpire, then slips a couple past his wafting bat outside off. Baard takes revenge with an imperious swivel-pull. Ball races to the rope at square.

Over 9.0 – Namibia 35/1. CJ Amini into the attack, with his speedy legspin. Looks very cool bowling with his snazzy white shades. Concedes a boundary though, as Baard steps forward and lofts a very nice looking drive over mid-off.

Over 8.0 – Namibia 29/1. Ravu into the attack with a lengthy runup that’s perhaps not entirely proportional to his pace. Immediately on target though, and with good support from the expertly-placed fielders. Baard and Bredenkamp tied down.

Over 6.0 – Namibia 27/1. Vanua banging into the bat from a whippy, skiddy action, but drifts a little wide and Baard thumps him emphatically through cover.

Over 4.5 – wicket! Pokaina gets his man as Damien Ravu produces another excellent catch. Kotze clips a half-volley uppishly off his pads into the midwicket area and Ravu swoops two-handed to his left. Kotze departs for 19, Namibia 23/1.

Over 4.2 – Namibia 23/0. Kotze spanks a pair of muscular boundaries off Pokaina. First, he repeats the square drive of two overs ago, then he stands tall and sends a bouncer pinging away to the rope with a textbook pull shot.

Over 3.0 – Namibia 13/0. Left-handed Kotze looking in ominous form as Pokaina slides one across him from around the wicket and he tucks into a glorious square drive.

Over 2.0 – Namibia 8/0. Rangy left-armer Nosaina Pokana opened the innings with a maiden, before JP Kotze scored the first boundary by slapping the right-arm seamer Norman Vanua through square.

End of the innings. PNG bowled out for 118 in 42.1 overs. Chad Soper top scores with a disciplined 36 (79) with wickets tumbling around him. For Namibia, the wickets were shared, with JJ Smit (3/34 off 10), Jan Frylinck (3/16 off 7.1), Craig Williams (3/25 off 8) and Bernard Scholtz (1/17 off 10) all chipping in.

42.1 – wicket! Frylinck finishes off the innings as Chad Soper’s vigil at the crease ends with him holing out to deep midwicket. Slogs across the line but doesn’t get hold of it and Bredenkamp runs around from mid-off to complete a comfortable catch a few metres in from the rope.

41.4 – wicket! Williams replaces Scholtz and strikes with the help of another sharp grab, this time by JJ Smit, who dives forward to his left in the cover region to snaffle a drive by Pokana.

40.0 overs – PNG 114/8. End of an excellent spell from Scholtz, who bowled his full 10 overs consecutively. Ending with 1/17, the pressure built by his relentless accuracy and discipline has helped put PNG in a deep hole.

39.0 overs – PNG 113/8. Smit switches to around the wicket, which seems to suit new man Pokana. Lofts him nicely back ovcer his head for 2.

38.0 overs – PNG 107/8. After Smit finished his over, Scholtz continued his miserly spell. PNG’s position has allowed him to dictate terms and histle through overs.

36.3 overs – wicket! Another great catch from the captain! Erasmus tops his earlier effort with a spectacular effort at gully. Vanua slapped a short one from Smit with gusto and it seemed to be flying over Erasmus until he launched himself off the ground with a single hand reaching up and behind himself. He clings onto what is surely an early favourite for catch of the tournament.

36.0 overs – PNG 104/7. Another tidy over from Scholtz.

35.0 overs – PNG 102/7. Strike bowler Smit is back on, generating an awkward angle from his tall left-armers. He keeps the batsmen pushed back in their creases, but doesn’t manage any breakthroughs despite the English-language exhortations of his teammates. Presumably those are for the benefit of PNG since most of the chat is in Afrikaans.

34.0 overs – PNG 99/7. Another naggingly accurate over from Scholtz ends in a maiden as Vanua is unable to pierce the field. Good hustle from the fielding unit to cramp around him and build pressure.

33.0 overs – PNG 99/7. Pace still causing trouble as Viljoen sizzles in a bouncer that draws the edge from a fending Norman Vanua. Runs away safely past the keeper. Cristi a little carried away with the bounce as the next ball is another bumper that sails over Soper’s head and called wide. Drinks on the field.

32.0 overs – PNG 93/7. Vanua and Soper inching their team towards 3 figures with some very watchful batting. Viljoen and Scholtz stiflingly accurate.

30.0 overs – PNG 86/7. Scholtz hustles through the second half of the over with a slightly flatter trajectory after the batsmen pick him off for 3 singles.

29.0 overs – PNG 83/7. Viljoen back into the attack, and Soper plays out the over watchfully. Viljoen hurrying him for pace, but Soper so far up to the task. Displaying the most patience and solid technique out of any of his colleagues so far.

28.0 overs – PNG 81/7. A pair of tidy overs from Williams and Scholtz sees the batsmen knocking singles watchfully.

26.0 overs – PNG 75/7. New man is the right-handed Norman Vanua, who can hit a very long ball. PNG need him and Soper to cobble together some kind of target to bowl at.

25.3 overs – wicket! Jason Kila deceived in the air by Scholtz, who floats one past Kila’s wafting bat. Kisses the edge and regulation catch to JP Kotze behind the stumps. PNG 75/7

24.6 overs – wicket! Doriga gone to an underedge as he slashes at a wider from from Williams. Did that keep a little low? Poor dismissal either way as he’d escaped with oohs and aahs the previous ball doing exactly the same thing. PNG 74/6

22.0 overs – PNG 66/5. Left-arm orthodox into the attack from Bernard Scholtz. Despite the fielder’s chat implying he’s unplayable, Soper puts away the first boundary in many overs with a lovely cut shot to the rope.

21.0 overs – PNG 62/5. Long road ahead for PNG to post a competitive total here. Smit still bending his back as Soper and Doriga wisely rotate the strike.

20.0 overs – PNG 58/5. Viljoen continues to look threatening as he draws an edge from the bat of new man, right-handed Chad Soper. Fortunately for PNG, the ball dies and lands just short of slip.

18.5 overs – wicket! Smit strikes again as Siaka plays all around a fuller delivery. Thuds into his pads and the raucous appeal is rewarded with the umpire’s raised finger. PNG 54/5

18.1 overs – wicket! JJ Smit back into the attack and a spectacular grab from the captain Erasmus at short cover does for Amini. The ball was a slightly short and Amini’s drive lobbed high off the bat for Erasmus to pluck one-handed as it went past. PNG 53/4

17.0 overs – drinks. PNG 52/3 Good pressure early from the Namibian bowlers has paid off, with all three wickets falling to rash shots. Lots of chat from the Namibian fielders as PNG look to rebuild from here. Siaka will be crucial as he has the capacity to build an innings and accelerate to an imposing total.

14.4 overs – wicket! Williams draws the edge of Bau with a shorter delivery sliding across his body. Bau fends tamely and the ball thuds into the keeper’s gloves. New man in is the right-handed Lega Siaka.

12.0 overs. PNG 37/2 Frylinck perhaps tiring a touch? Slapped away for 4 by Bau as he gets wayward, but comes back with another fizzing bouncer.

11.0 overs. PNG 33/2 Craig Williams into the attack with his distinctly gentler medium pace. Milked for runs through the gaps.

10.0 overs. PNG 28/2 At last night’s press conference Namibian skipper Gerhard Erasmus gave a cheeky smirk as he fielded questions about the “slow conditions”. Perhaps he knew something we didn’t – Wanderers looking very much alive as Frylinck bends his back and sends Amini ducking for cover with a sharp bouncer.

9.0 overs After all the talk of low slow pitches, Namibia’s opening pair of left-armers seem to be extracting some life from the surface at the Wanderers. Smits getting it to fizz past the bats of Amini and Sese Bau. PNG 28/2.

8.0 overs Impressive over from Frylinck. After dismissing Vala he almost does for new man CJ Amini as an enthusiastic appeal for caught behind is turned down. Looked out, but presumably the umpire though it was off the thigh pad.

7.2 overs Big wicket for Namibia! Assad Vala gone driving – reaches for a wider fuller Frylinck delivery but only manages an edge through to keeper JP Kotze. PNG 22/2.

After winning the toss and electing to bowl, Namibia’s left-arm opening bowler JJ Smits leaks two boundaries in the first over, as Tony Ura carves him through cover-point, then follows up with a gloriously timed straight drive to the rope.