Zimbabwe secure berth in Semifinals

Zimbabwe secured a place in the semifinals of the Plate championship of the Under-19 World Cup beating Namibia by three wickets at the Galle International Stadium on Friday.

Replying to Namibia's 231 for 5, Zimbabwe's victory came in the penultimate over of an enthralling match.

Namibia won the toss in the morning sunshine and elected to bat. It was an innings of two partnerships. The first came from openers Marius Van De Merwe and Stefan Swanepoel who cruised to 50 in just 47 minutes making use of some wayward Zimbabwe bowling. There was plenty of attractive strokeplay, undone in the end by a sharp one handed catch returned to the off-spinner Ewing by Swanepoel who out for 38 in a first wicket stand of 68.

Gavin Ewing and Mike Sherren brought Zimbabwe back into the game by some accurate bowling. Ewing has had an excellent tournament to date, continuing his good form here. A large, burly figure, on the face of it his bowling appears to be innocuous. However he is highly effective, his line and length rooting the batsmen to the crease.

After the Namibians were 141 for 4 in the 37th over, Jan Burger was joined by Pieter Burger to form the second major contribution. With some clean hitting to the boundaries combined with sharp running, the two put together 74 valuable runs for the fifth wicket.

Jan Burger was out slashing indiscreetly to deep backward cover in the penultimate over. The total was then 215 and his 69 from 67 balls included two sixes and six fours. Namibia closed with a challenging 231 for five with Pieter Burger unbeaten on 36.

Ewing returned figures of two for 30 and was the pick of the bowlers in an otherwise poor day with the ball for Zimbabwe. Extras amounted to a charitable 23.

In defence of their total, Namibia got an early breakthrough. Having smashed Van Rooi over wide mid on for four in the second over, Conan Brewer tried to repeat the stroke and mistimed wildly, being caught at mid wicket with the score on just 7.

Zimbabwe replied with partnerships of their own. The in form pair of Tatenda Taibu and Greg Lamb came together at the fall of the second wicket and shared an exciting stand of 60 in nine overs. Lamb, displaying batting at its purest and easiest, was then needlessly run out. The dashing Taibu perished two overs later, his 59 runs coming from 55 deliveries with five fours. At 119 for four at the halfway mark, Zimbabwe needed under five an over with six wickets in hand and the match was poised for a close finish.

It was a situtation which called for cool heads from both teams. Guy Croxford and Travis Friend played with a mixture of control and enthusiasm, adding 60 for the fifth wicket. Having been struck for consecutive boundaries by the acting Zimbabwe captain, leg spinner Jan Burger held his nerve. He responded with a ripper to Friend which was good enough to get a touch to the keeper.

Returning for his second spell, Van Rooi roared in from Fort End and met with immediate success. Henderson was brilliantly caught one handed by the diving Tobie Verwey behind the stumps. That made the score 194 for 6.

Gavin Ewing kept the momentum, one leg glance flicked to the boundary being particularly memorable. Ewing then holed out to deep mid wicket, the total being 224 in the 47th over. By then it was too late for Namibia, Hamilton Masakadza hitting the winning runs in the penultimate over. Guy Croxford was unbeaten for a determined and composed 41. It was a thrilling game which took Zimbabwe into the semis.

Speaking to Cricinfo after the match, a relieved Zimbabwe coach Paul Strang said "I am very happy with the way we played. We have had a problem losing wickets at crucial stages but worked hard to bat out 50 overs. Croxford played with maturity, and had faith in his tail enders. 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 were the whipping boys. We have not seen that today."