da gbg bet： Zimbabwe secured a place in the semifinals of the Plate championshipof the Under-19 World Cup beating Namibia by three wickets at theGalle International Stadium on Friday
Simon Williams21-Jan-2000Zimbabwe secured a place in the semifinals of the Plate championshipof the Under-19 World Cup beating Namibia by three wickets at theGalle International Stadium on Friday.Replying to Namibia’s 231 for 5, Zimbabwe’s victory came in thepenultimate over of an enthralling match.Namibia won the toss in the morning sunshine and elected to bat. Itwas an innings of two partnerships. The first came from openers MariusVan De Merwe and Stefan Swanepoel who cruised to 50 in just 47 minutesmaking use of some wayward Zimbabwe bowling. There was plenty ofattractive strokeplay, undone in the end by a sharp one handed catchreturned to the off-spinner Ewing by Swanepoel who out for 38 in afirst wicket stand of 68.Gavin Ewing and Mike Sherren brought Zimbabwe back into the game bysome accurate bowling. Ewing has had an excellent tournament to date,continuing his good form here. A large, burly figure, on the face ofit his bowling appears to be innocuous. However he is highlyeffective, his line and length rooting the batsmen to the crease.After the Namibians were 141 for 4 in the 37th over, Jan Burger wasjoined by Pieter Burger to form the second major contribution. Withsome clean hitting to the boundaries combined with sharp running, thetwo put together 74 valuable runs for the fifth wicket.Jan Burger was out slashing indiscreetly to deep backward cover in thepenultimate over. The total was then 215 and his 69 from 67 ballsincluded two sixes and six fours. Namibia closed with a challenging231 for five with Pieter Burger unbeaten on 36.Ewing returned figures of two for 30 and was the pick of the bowlersin an otherwise poor day with the ball for Zimbabwe. Extras amountedto a charitable 23.In defence of their total, Namibia got an early breakthrough. Havingsmashed Van Rooi over wide mid on for four in the second over, ConanBrewer tried to repeat the stroke and mistimed wildly, being caught atmid wicket with the score on just 7.Zimbabwe replied with partnerships of their own. The in form pair ofTatenda Taibu and Greg Lamb came together at the fall of the secondwicket and shared an exciting stand of 60 in nine overs. Lamb,displaying batting at its purest and easiest, was then needlessly runout. The dashing Taibu perished two overs later, his 59 runs comingfrom 55 deliveries with five fours. At 119 for four at the halfwaymark, Zimbabwe needed under five an over with six wickets in hand andthe match was poised for a close finish.It was a situtation which called for cool heads from both teams. GuyCroxford and Travis Friend played with a mixture of control andenthusiasm, adding 60 for the fifth wicket. Having been struck forconsecutive boundaries by the acting Zimbabwe captain, leg spinner JanBurger held his nerve. He responded with a ripper to Friend which wasgood enough to get a touch to the keeper.Returning for his second spell, Van Rooi roared in from Fort End andmet with immediate success. Henderson was brilliantly caught onehanded by the diving Tobie Verwey behind the stumps. That made thescore 194 for 6.Gavin Ewing kept the momentum, one leg glance flicked to the boundarybeing particularly memorable. Ewing then holed out to deep mid wicket,the total being 224 in the 47th over. By then it was too late forNamibia, Hamilton Masakadza hitting the winning runs in thepenultimate over. Guy Croxford was unbeaten for a determined andcomposed 41. It was a thrilling game which took Zimbabwe into thesemis.Speaking to Cricinfo after the match, a relieved Zimbabwe coach PaulStrang said “I am very happy with the way we played. We have had aproblem losing wickets at crucial stages but worked hard to bat out 50overs. Croxford played with maturity, and had faith in his tailenders. Two years ago we would not have built partnerships like that.”The Namibians need not be ashamed of the loss. Strang went on to say”full credit to them, they played extremely well. People say they werethe whipping boys. We have not seen that today.”