Leaders CCD Tigers to meet winless Old Boys

Cricket
The top four clubs will face vital contests this weekend.
Tielman Van Lill
  • 20 Hours Ago
The second round of Cricket Namibia's one-day premier league will continue on Saturday with two matches in Windhoek.

In the morning, the title holders APS Wanderers and archrivals Trustco United will clash at Wanderers field in Pionierspark. At the same time, ATG WHS Old Boys face the unbeaten CCD Tigers 1 at United in Olympia.

Tigers are currently top of the table after two clashes with eight points, followed by Wanderers and United with four points, while Old Boys are last with zero.

The rivalry between club and national players in the four teams will again be heated to catch the eye of Pierre de Bruyn, Namibia's head coach. Contenders will have to deliver consistent performances to raise their profile.

De Bruyn this week announced his squad for the Richelieu Eagles' tour to Oman this week, with few surprises. The return of fit-again left-arm fast bowlers Ruben Trumpelmann and Jan Frylinck should be a valuable addition to the bowling options.

The absence of opening batsman Michael van Lingen (27) left some observers puzzled. According to Cricket Namibia he has not made himself available for the upcoming tour, but is not permanently out of the picture.

After captain Gerhard Erasmus (1,957 runs in 52 one-day internationals), Van Lingen has been a productive fighter for Namibia with 1,318 runs in 40 matches (39 innings). Since his debut in November 2021 he has struck five ODI centuries for his country.

Van Lingen's 133 runs in a losing match against Nepal in Kirtipur in February 2023 is the second-highest individual ODI innings for Namibia. JP Kotzé holds the record (136 against USA in Lauderhill in September 2019).



Schedule

The Eagles' next commitment in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 series (2024-2027) begins on 8 February in Al Amerat, Oman, against the host team and USA.

The USA is currently the series leader with 16 points from 12 CWCL2 matches. Oman is fifth with 14, while Namibia is sixth with ten points.

The Eagles will play Oman and the USA twice each, from 8 to 16 February.

The player squad: Gerhard Erasmus (captain), Ruben Trumpelmann, Jan Frylinck, JJ Smit, JP Kotzé, Bernard Scholtz, Jan-Izak de Villiers, Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Zane Green (wicketkeeper), JC Balt, Malan Kruger, Jack Brassell, Ben Shikongo, PD Blignaut, Shaun Fouché, Dylan Leicher.



Premier league

The outstanding individuals after two rounds of ODI premier league matches.

Top five bowlers

1 Junior Kariata, CCD Tigers (6 wickets for 63 runs in 17.1 overs at 3.68 per over).

2 PD Blignaut, Wanderers (5/76 in 20, 3.8).

3 Salomon Nuuyoma, CCD Tigers (5/64 in 11.2, 5.65).

4 JC Balt, Wanderers (4/71 in 18, 3.94). 5 United- Fortune Matawu (3/37 in 17, 1.95).

Top five batsmen

1 JJ Smit, Wanderers (175 runs, 208 balls, 10x4, 7x6, average 87.5).

2 Lo-han Louwrens, Wanderers (112, 123 b, 8x4, 5x6, 112.0).

3 Erich von Molendorff, United (93, 158 b, 5x4, 4x6, 46.5).

4 Ramon Wilmot, CCD Tigers (72, 105 b, 7x4, 1x6, 36.0).

5 Nicol Loftie-Eaton, CCD Tigers (67, 73 b, 4x4, 3x6, 33.5).

Overall top five player ratings: 1 Nicol Loftie-Eaton (244 points), 2 JJ Smit (235), 3 Lo-han Louwrens (214), 4 Junior Kariata (177), 5 JC Balt (165).

– tielman@nsh.com.na