ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012 Teams & Players

namibia team profile

Namibia has qualified for its sixth ICC U19 Cricket World Cup after good performances at the regional and global qualifying events. Namibia U19s won the regional qualifier, the Africa Under 19 Division 1 Championship, on home soil without losing a match. Along with runner-up Kenya, the team qualified for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, from which the top six teams advanced to the final event in Australia. Namibia won four of its matches to claim sixth position, finishing on equal points with the United States of America and Canada, but winning through by virtue of a higher net run rate.

Namibia won its opening match against fellow qualifier Papua New Guinea by 89 runs, with opener Justin Baard, captain Stephen Baard and Zhivago Groenewald all scoring more than 40 runs to set up the total, while Zhivago Groenewald and Christopher Coombe shared six wickets to successfully defend the total.

After defeating Vanuatu by 6 wickets, the team went on to suffer a series of losses. Namibia lost to fellow qualifier Afghanistan, despite double figures from six batsmen, including a half century from Merwe Erasmus. A victory by 109 runs against Kenya in the final match, however, secured the team’s position on the table, and its passage through to Australia.

Namibia U19s did not qualify for the 2010 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, and will be looking to improve on its previous performances, where it has not progressed beyond the group stage. Its best results came in 2002 and 2008, when it lost the Plate semi-final to Zimbabwe and Nepal, respectively. Namibia will be led by South Africa-born Steve Baard, who made his first-class debut for the national team in March 2010.