Team USA bowled Namibia out for 121 before sealing a five-wicket win in their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League Two match. Steven Taylor took four wickets and followed it up with 43 runs for a match-winning all-round performance.
Namibia struggled with bat and ball in their first match of the competition on Tuesday, 17 September, in Lauderhill. USA, who had won their first game of the tri-series after posting the highest total in CWC League Two, chased down the lowest score so far, to win their second match.
Batting first, Namibia began slowly. Saurabh Netravalkar, the USA captain, bowled a wicket-maiden first up, sending back Stephen Baard. Namibia scored their first run only after 23 balls.
Timil Patel roars with delight as USA’s bowlers shone © ICC/Peter Della Penna
Opener Karl Birenstock (32) helped put some runs on the board, ensuring no wickets fell for the next 10 overs and adding a patient 33 for the second wicket. But once Taylor broke that partnership, striking twice in the 11th over, Namibia found it hard to come back.
Birenstock was dismissed off Karima Gore, and while 22-year-old Zane Green (36) tried to stay as long as he could on the crease, Nisarg Patel bowled him to end Namibia’s innings. Taylor’s off-spin gave him 4/23.
USA took a comfortable approach to chasing a low target. After they slipped to 33/2, Taylor and Monank Patel built a partnership, taking them past the 100 mark.
Birkenstock ended their stand at 68, but by then only 21 runs were needed, with seven wickets and 24.3 overs remaining. Namibia’s attacking fielding troubled the new batsmen, but it was too late. Monank Patel (30*) finished the job in 31.2 overs.
USA will target their third win of the competition, against PNG on Thursday. PNG are on five losses in a row. Namibia will play their next match on Friday, against USA.
Steven Taylor, Player of the Match: “Today was a good day for me with bowling and batting. For the bowling I will say I just kept it simple and tried to keep it as straight as possible and tried to vary my pace, because the Namibia guys are used to true wickets. I tried to take off the pace as much as possible and keep it as tight as I can. I got four wickets and I was happy with that. With the batting, it’s a really flat wicket, and I am used to it as well. It would spin a little, but it doesn’t spin enough so I kept it straight and simple.”
Gerhard Erasmus, Namibia captain: “Obviously disappointing day today on the field. We got outplayed bat and ball. It is a very disappointing start. We have a two-day turnaround now until the next game against USA. We have some time to recuperate. I think we need to get accustomed to the conditions here very quickly because this is very different compared to back home. We need to keep backing up our guys to put up a match-winning performance.”
Team USA’s schedule is as follows with all games starting at 9:45am ET:
- September 13 USA vs Papua New Guinea – Won by 5 Runs (DLS Method)
- September 17 USA vs Namibia – Won by 5 Wickets
- September 19 USA vs Papua New Guinea
- September 20 USA vs Namibia
These matches will be the first ever official One Day International matches on American soil after the U.S. Men’s National Team gained ODI status at WCL2 in Namibia in April and are the first in a series of 36 ODIs that Team USA will play over the next 2.5 years as part of ICC Cricket World Cup League 2. Additional information on ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 can be found here.
Team USA squad:
Saurabh Netravalkar (C – Marin 1, Northern California Cricket Association)
Steven Taylor (VC – Sheffield Cricket Club, New York Metropolitan Cricket League)
Karima Gore (Antigua/USA)
Elmore Hutchinson (Caribbean CC, Southern California Cricket Association)
Aaron Jones (Atlantis Cricket Club, New York Metropolitan Cricket League)
Nosthush Kenjige (Atlantis Cricket Club, New York Metropolitan Cricket League)
Jaskaran Malhotra (Triggers Cricket Club, Houston Cricket League)
Xavier Marshall (Villagers Athletic Sports Club, New York Metropolitan Cricket League)
Monank Patel (Freedom Cricket Club, Cricket League of New Jersey)
Nisarg Patel (Vijayta Cricket Club, Southern California Cricket Association)
Sagar Patel (Indian Lions, ArkTenn Cricket League)
Timil Patel (Vijayta Cricket Club, Southern California Cricket Association)
Jasdeep Singh (Smashers Cricket Club, Cricket League of New Jersey)
Rusty Theron (Potomac Cricket Club, Washington Cricket League)
