Testing times for national cricket team In preparation of their crucial away games against Papua New Guinea in October, the Namibian senior national cricket side will take part in the African T20 cup this weekend.They will also face Saudi Arabia in Windhoek in two weeks’ time.
The Namibians will face PNG in the Intercontinental Cup from 16 to 19 October while also fighting for World Cricket League points against the islanders at the same venue two days later.
“We are currently in a bad position in the Intercontinental Cup and World Cricket League,” said Namibia’s cricket coach, Dayanand Thakur.
“We must win both games or risk being relegated to a lower division in the future.
“PNG is a quality side but we beat them convincingly last year and we are confident that we can get a good result there,” he vowed.
The ICC Intercontinental Cup is an international first-class cricket tournament between leading associate members.
The winner will play four five-day matches against the bottom-ranked Test nation, an event known as the 2018 ICC Test Challenge.
Should the winner of the Intercontinental Cup go on to win the ICC Test Challenge they will become the 11th Test nation.
Namibia won against Hong Kong in the first match. But they fell short to Hong Kong and Afghanistan in the following encounters.
Thakur and his men will get their first chance to showcase their skills when they take on the South African provisional sides KwaZulu-Natal Inland, North West and Western Province in the group phase of the African T20 Cup beginning on Friday morning in Pietermaritzburg.
“No associate country has ever won a group stage at this event, but that is what we are striving for. We cannot go there to only compete,” Thakur said.
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