Snyman's hurricane 196 goes in vain as UAE stuns Namibia in high-scoring

Snyman's hurricane 196 goes in vain as UAE stuns Namibia in high-scoring thriller to join Oman in final

Gerrie Snyman's hurricane 196 went in vain as United Arab Emirates (UAE) defeated Namibia by five wickets to join Oman in the final of the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 in Windhoek, Namibia on Wednesday.

Snyman clobbered 17 sixes and seven boundaries in an electrifying 132-ball 196 to lift Namibia to an imposing 358-7 at the Wanderers Cricket Ground. However, the UAE achieved victory with 27 balls and five wickets to spare after half centuries from captain Saqib Ali, Khurram Khan and Arshad Ali.

At the United Ground, Oman outsmarted Denmark by six wickets to secure its fourth consecutive victory which makes its Friday's game against the UAE a dress rehearsal for Saturday's final.

Snyman featured in a 175-run third wicket partnership with Dawid Botha who contributed 58 from 87 balls with four boundaries. Snyman went on a rampage in the last 10 overs that yielded 98 runs, with the 26-year-old right-hander doing bulk of the scoring.

In turn, the UAE batsmen collectively matched Snyman's heroics by helping their team to its fourth successive victory which not only guarantees it a place in the final of the tournament but also assures it a place along with Oman in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, which it will host in 2009.

After Mohammad Iqbal (34), Arshad Ali (57) and Gayan Silva (37) provided a solid platform, Saqib and Khurram ensured victory was achieved adding 134 runs for the fourth wicket in nearly 17 overs.

The partnership ended when Saqib became one of the two Louis Klazinga's victims after scoring 91 from 59 balls with nine fours and two sixes. Nevertheless, Khurram continued to finish unbeaten on 89, a knock that
included 11 boundaries.

In the end, it turned out to be an incredible match in which 717 runs, including 25 sixes and 58 boundaries.

For Snyman, it was yet another disappointing end after his 158 on Tuesday had also failed to save his team from a two-wicket defeat against Oman. Snyman has so far scored 512 runs at 170.66 in the tournament.

Oman was hardly made to sweat by Denmark at the United Ground. Denmark, batting first, scored 168 in 43.3 overs and Oman raced to victory in 29.5 overs for the loss of four wickets.

At the Centre of Cricket Development, Uganda beat Argentina by nine wickets to keep its hopes of qualifying for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier alive. Frank Nsubuga returned impressive figures of 10-5-10-3 to restrict Denmark to 150-8 and later opener Joel Olweny scored 62 not out to take Uganda to victory in 20.1 overs.

The semi-finalists of ICC WCL Division 2 will join Ireland, Scotland, Kenya, Bermuda, Canada and the Netherlands in the 2009 event in the UAE. The bottom two teams will be relegated to World Cricket League Division 3 but will have a second chance to qualify for the 2009 qualifier when they play in the ICC World Cricket League Division 3.

Scores in brief:

At the Wanderers Cricket Ground, the UAE beat Namibia by five wickets.

Namibia: 358-7 in 50 overs

(Gerrie Snyman 196, Dawid Botha 58, Bjorn Kotze 31, Andries Burger 30, Amjad Javed 3-60)

UAE: 359-5 in 45.3 overs (Saqib Ali 91, Khurram Khan 89 not out, Arshad Ali 57, Mohammad Iqbal 34, Louis Klazinga 2-68, Bjorn Kotze 2-70)

At the Centre of Cricket Development, Uganda beat Argentina by nine wickets Argentina: 150-8 in 50 overs (Esteban MacDermott 43 not out, Diego Lord 27 not out, Frank Nsubuga 3-10, Ronald Semanda3-29)

Uganda: 151-1 in 20.1 overs (Joel Olweny 62 not out, Arthur Kyobe 46, Kenneth Kamyuka not out)

At the United Ground, Oman beat Denmark by six wickets

Denmark: 168 in 43.3 overs (Frederik Klokker 45, Carsten Pedersen 37,
Hemal Mehta 3-11, Syed Ali 2-11, Syed Hussain 2-40)

Oman: 169-4 in 29.5 overs

(Hemin Desai 47, Vaibhav Wategaonkar 33, Hemal
Mehta 35 not out)

Matches for Friday:

Denmark v Argentina - Wanderers; Oman v UAE - United Ground; Namibia v
Uganda - Centre for Cricket Development.

Points Table (after Wednesday's matches)