Rain only delays inevitable for Namibia as Ireland do double

IRELAND COMPLETED a routine eight-wicket victory over Namibia in a rain-shortened second ICC Intercontinental Cup one-day series at Stormont yesterday to complete the double over the African side.

Monday’s fine weather gave way to greyer conditions at the Belfast ground, with early morning rain delaying the start until just before 2pm and reducing the game to 38 overs per side.

Namibia won the toss and decided to bat, with Ireland forced into a late change after Trent Johnston injured his knee in the warm-ups, with Nigel Jones coming into the XI on his home ground.

John Mooney joined birthday boy Boyd Rankin with the new ball in Johnston’s absence and the North County all-rounder followed up his heroics with the bat on Monday by making the breakthrough with his fifth delivery when Ewald Steenkamp holed out to a good catch by Alex Cusack at long leg.

Kevin O’Brien did for Gerhard Rudolph with a slower ball that rearranged his stumps after he had made 21, with the Namibians deciding to bring Louis van der Westhuizen in at number four after his batting fireworks in the first game.

The big-hitting left-hander took up where he left off, taking 17 runs including back to back sixes off Kevin O’Brien in the 14th over.

Rankin, who turned 27 yesterday, put a stop to his gallop with the first ball of his second spell when the batsman mistimed a pull shot that popped back up to the bowler after he had hit 34 off 18 balls.

Van der Westhuizen’s knock gave Namibia some impetus but they failed to push on from 78 for three in the 16th over, with teenage spinner George Dockrell again taking key wickets early in his spell as Pikky ya France and Craig Williams were both stumped following good work from Gary Wilson behind the stumps.

Kevin O’Brien came back well after some early treatment with the wickets of Gerrie Snyman and Stephen Baard in the first two overs of his second spell as Namibia were reduced to 110 for seven in the 26th over.

Ireland, though, failed to finish them off early for the second day running, not helped by the loss of Rankin, who left the field early as a precaution after picking up a knock following his opening spell.

Raymond van Schoor hit 21 off 16 balls before he was run out by Andrew White, who scored a direct hit from cover before Mooney returned to knock off the tail, finishing with three wickets for 31 from his seven overs, with Namibia being bowled out for 175 with two overs to spare.

Ireland skipper William Porterfield set the tone for the Ireland reply by hitting Louis Klazinga for six off just the fifth ball of the innings and the left-hander hit three straight boundaries off the bowler’s second over.

Porterfield dominated the early strike but fellow opener Paul Stirling got into stride with back-to-back fours off Van der Westhuizen’s left-arm spin as Ireland hit 54 runs off the first seven overs.

Stirling had hit 26 from 18 balls when he popped a catch to Snyman at second slip off Christi Viljoen’s bowling, while Porterfield fell five short of a half-century, when Williams held on to skier off the bowling of Klazinga with the score on 92.

That was the end of Namibia’s success with the ball, with Cusack making an assured 59 from 55 deliveries and sharing in an unbeaten 84-run stand with Niall O’Brien for the third wicket.

O’Brien finished unbeaten on 38, hitting the winning run to earn Ireland a comprehensive victory with 46 balls to spare.

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Somerset left arm spinner George Dockrell will captain the Ireland squad in the under-19 World Cup qualifying tournament, which is being held in Dublin and the North West later this month.