Namibia & PNG secure 19th & 20th ODI spot & enter CWC League 2

Securing ODI status after their last ODI appearance in 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, Namibia, having hosted the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division 2 for the most number of times in the tournament’s history, ensured that they finish it off in style at home, as they overpowered a listless Hong Kong by 151 runs in their final group stage match in the competition.

https://youtu.be/NEQKq2T78qI

Stranded at 32/5 and staring down the barrel, Papua New Guinea (PNG) scripted the greatest escape in a WCL event, as they not only managed to score beyond 200 at the end of their batting stint, but then wrecked Oman’s entire batting line-up for a mere 76 runs to win the match by a big margin of 145 runs and secured their ODI status after losing it in 2018 ICC World Cup Qualifiers, as in the final match of the day, Canada were once again unlucky to go beyond the line as USA denied them the status by scoring more than what Canada needed to restrict them under to claim the ODI spot.

Canada eventually won the match against USA by 40 runs, who were chasing 256 for victory, but needed to restrict their North American neighbours to under 212 to get ODI status, once again failed to collect the final USA wicket after reducing them to 198/9, as the last wicket pair took USA to their eventual total of 215/9 in their 50 overs.

https://youtu.be/U3bf5bDjJ6w

Namibia, earlier in the day, made the 2nd highest Associate team total ever as JP Kotze (148) and Stephen Baard (122) plundered Hong Kong bowlers to make a mammoth 243-runs partnership, as Namibia eventually made 396/3 in their 50 overs. Anshuman Rath (76) and Kinchit Shah (56) tried their luck to make a splash at the target, but once they got out, it was mere academic for the host nation, as their bowlers cleaned up the remaining batting line-up quickly to bowl out Hong Kong for 245.

For PNG, Sese Bau (80), Kipling Doriga (65) and Nosaina Pokana (5/14) were the heroes for the day as the Barramundis shocked Oman and showed the cricket they are capable to play and although they left it very late in the competition to showcase their mettle, it was worth it as other results went their way and the nerve-wrecking match between USA and Canada ended in their favour to help them get the ODI status back.

The final group stage results have meant that Hong Kong and Canada have been now relegated to ICC CWC Challenge Leagues and will play 15 List-A games in their respective groups (which will be decided after their 5th/6th play-off match) in order to top the group and get into ICC CWC Qualifiers Challenge Play-off’s and again get the chance to play official ODI matches against the remaining 5 opponents in the qualifiers play-off’s.

Brief Scores:

Namibia 396/3 in 50 overs (Jean-Pierre Kotze 148, Stephen Baard 122, JJ Smit 61 n.o, Zane Green 41 n.o, Jhatavedh Subramanyan 1/49) beat Hong Kong 245 all out in 43.2 overs (Anshuman Rath 76, Kinchit Shah 56, Babar Hayat 26, Scott Mckechnie 25, Bernard Scholtz 2/37, Craig Williams 2/41, Jan Frylinck 2/48) by 151 runs

Papua New Guinea 221/8 in 50 overs (Sese Bau 80, Kipling Doriga 65, Norman Vanua 19, Fayyaz Butt 4/46, Nadeem 4/47) beat Oman 76 all out in 28.2 overs (Khawar Ali 29, Nosaina Pokana 5/14, Chad Soper 3/15) by 145 runs

Canada 255/4 in 50 overs (Navneet Dhaliwal 121 n.o, Nitish Kumar 58, Davy Jacobs 57, Ali Khan 3/65) beat USA 215/9 in 50 overs (Jaskaran Malhotra 50, Steven Taylor 44, Aaron Jones 33, Karima Gore 21 n.o, Romesh Don 4/47, Saad bin Zafar 2/45) by 40 runs

ICC World Cricket League Division 2 Points table