Higher mountains to scale for Eagles

The FNB Namibian Eagles made history by beating Ireland over the weekend, but they will have to scale greater heights if they hope to qualify for next year’s Cricket World Cup. Namibia beat a test-playing nation for the first time in an international one day series after winning their final match against Ireland by five wickets on Sunday to clinch the series 3-2, and coach Craig Williams said it was a great achievement. “Look, the win was very big for us – to beat a Test nation like Ireland it’s a massive achievement for the team,” he said. “It was also a real team effort – different players contributed at different times, so it wasn’t always the same person. It just shows the depth and strength of our squad,” he added. Going into Sunday’s final match the series was locked at two-all but Namibia won the decider by five wickets to clinch the series win.

JJ Smit swung the match Namibia’s way with a brilliant bowling spell of 4/20, including three wickets in four balls, while Jack Brassell took 3/15 to restrict Ireland to 129 all out – a target that was comfortably reached for the loss of five wickets with Louren Steenkamp scoring 46 and captain Gerhard Erasmus 30. Williams said there the bowlers and fielders laid the platform for Sunday’s win. “In the last match on Sunday, I think the guys just bowled and fielded exceptionally well, which kept pressure on Ireland, and then, being able to bowl them out for that score was just a fantastic effort,” Williams said. “We would have loved to chase it down for only two or three wickets down, but when you’re chasing low totals like that and you are trying to go for the win, you do lose wickets in the process,” he said. Williams said the series win against Ireland concluded a successful year for the Eagles. “All in all it’s been a…