Cricket: Namibia secure 2024 World Cup slot as Kenya miss out
Kenya Under-19 men's cricket coach Josphat Irungu during their training session on September 23, 2022 at Nairobi Sikh Union ground.
What you need to know:
- In Kenya’s win over Nigeria, Sanghani took the most wickets at four and a maiden in 10 overs where he conceded 26 runs, while Panchani delivered 56 runs from 115 balls where he was not-out.
- In the same match, Haria took three wickets and earned a maiden in 5.3 overs where he conceded 15 runs.
Kenya Sunday narrowly missed the ticket to the 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 Men’s World Cup after finishing second behind Namibia in the Africa Division One Qualifiers that ended in Dar-es-Salaam.
Namibia won the qualifiers and will represent the continental alongside South Africa and Zimbabwe, who are among the countries that qualified automatically for the 16-team global championship to be held in Sri Lanka.
Namibia topped the six-team Africa qualifiers with nine points, two more than Kenya. Uganda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Nigeria followed in that order with five, four, three and two points respectively.
With the contest being stiff, Namibia had to wait until on the final day of the competition to confirm their place in the World Cup.
The peerless South African nation completed their campaign on a high with a 53-run victory over Nigeria at Dar-es-Salaam Gymkhana Club Ground.
In the other match held on the final day of the one-week competition, hosts Tanzania defeated Sierra Leone by 142 runs at the University of Dar-es-Salaam Cricket Ground.
Only Namibia finished the qualifiers unbeaten, with their victory over Nigeria extinguishing Kenya’s hope of making a return to the World Cup, since the 2018 edition in New Zealand.
Kenya, coached by Josphat Irungu, had hoped for a big win by Nigeria over Namibia, since it would have worked to their advantage in the battle for the sole World Cup ticket.
Heading into the clash with Nigeria, Namibia had tied with Kenya on seven points, but the South African nation was ranked ahead, thanks to a better net run rate.
Namibia's other victories were against Tanzania (by 106 runs), Kenya (by seven wickets) and Sierra Leone (by 83 runs).
Only Uganda escaped Namibia’s wrath after their opening match of the qualifiers on July 23 was washed-out, leading to a split in points.
For Kenya, their only loss in the contest was against Namibia. Coach Irungu’s boys defeated Sierra Leone (by four wickets), Uganda (by 23 runs DSL method) and Nigeria (by six wickets).
They shared spoils with Tanzania after their opening match of the campaign on July 23 was washed –out.
Captain Vishil Patel, Stian Smith, Brian Likavu, Darsh Panchani, Aaranv Patel, Hitendra Sanghani and Krish Haria were some of Kenya’s outstanding players in Dar-es-Salaam.
Against Sierra Leone, Likavu delivered 40 runs from 62 deliveries, while Vishil Patel picked four wickets and earned two maiden in 10 overs where he conceded 31 runs. Smith was crowned the man-of-the –match after he hit 37 runs from 71 balls where he was not-out.
Aaranv Patel tormented Uganda’s batsmen with six wickets to his name as Panchani top-scored with 40 runs off 109 balls.
In Kenya’s win over Nigeria, Sanghani took the most wickets at four and a maiden in 10 overs where he conceded 26 runs, while Panchani delivered 56 runs from 115 balls where he was not-out.
In the same match, Haria took three wickets and earned a maiden in 5.3 overs where he conceded 15 runs.
