Namibia and UAE fight out for positions
The journey to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 continues as Namibia and UAE battle for points in the upcoming ICC World Cricket League Championship and ICC Intercontinental Cup.
The two one-day fixtures of the ICC World Cricket League Championship will be played in Namibia on 21 and 23 September while the four-day fixture of the ICC Intercontinental Cup gets underway on 16 September.
In the World Cricket League Championship, both teams are at the bottom with four points each after 10 matches played. The next best placed team in the pathway to Cricket World Cup 2019 is Nepal on eight points after 10 matches. The top four sides in the Championship standings at the end of round 7 will progress to the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, whereas the bottom four teams will participate in ICC World Cricket League Division 2.
The UAE captain Rohan Mustafa is confident ahead of the matches.
‘We are very excited for the upcoming ICC World Cricket League Championship and ICC Intercontinental Cup fixtures against Namibia. With a number of our players recently being awarded full-time contracts we have seen vast improvements in skills and fitness, which we have continued to focus on over the summer. This combined with the 12-day preparation camp in advance of this series has been very beneficial.
“The key is continue to improve and progress up the ladder, therefore these ICC events are very important to our development,” he said.
Namibia and the UAE are both on 27 points from five outings each in the ICC Intercontinental Cup. They have one win apiece in the 2015-2017 edition.
Namibia captain Sarel Burger said his team have prepared well ahead of the fixtures.
“Our preparations have been going really well. We are hopeful and confident that we can put in good performances in the three matches and finish both competitions strongly. It is important to gain momentum, especially in the 50-over format, for the next tournament after this,” he said.
The squads:
Namibia: Sarel Francois Burger (captain), Stephan Julian Baard, Karl Birkenstock, Petrus Burger, Merwe Gerhard Erasmus, Jan Frylinck, Lohan Louwrens, Tangeni Lungameni, Mika Mutumbe, Bernhard Martinus Scholtz, Danie van Schoor, Johannes Jonathan Smit, Louis Petrus van der Westhuisen, Craig George Williams.
United Arab Emirates: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Qadeer Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Imran Haider, Saqlain Haider, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Adnan Mufti, Muhammed Naveed, Ahmed Raza, Ghulam Shabbir, Rameez Shahzad, Chirag Suri, Muhammed Usman
The match officials:
Match Referee - David Jukes
Umpires- Bongani Jele, Andrew Louw and Claude Thorburn
ICC World Cricket League Championship round 6 fixtures
Namibia v United Arab Emirates, Windhoek - 21 and 23 September – 1100 local time
Papua New Guinea v Scotland, Port Moresby - 6 and 8 October – 0930 local time
Kenya v Netherlands, Nairobi - 6 and 8 October – 0930 local time
Hong Kong v Nepal, Mong Kok - 13 and 15 October – 0930 local time
ICC Intercontinental Cup round 6 fixtures and results
Namibia v United Arab Emirates, Windhoek – 16-19 September - 1100 local time
Papua New Guinea v Scotland, Port Moresby – 1-4 October- 1000 local time
Hong Kong v Afghanistan, Mong Kok - 20-23 October, 2017 - 1000 local time
Ireland v Netherlands at Dublin – Match drawn - Ireland 477/6d and 240/7d; Netherlands 375 and 186/4
Current standings