Namibian captain Deon Kotze scored patient 90 runs as Namibia ended Day II, the first day of play, at 245/6 in the InterContinental Cup Playoff match at Windhoek.
Kotze, re-appointed captain after he resigned after leading the team in the 2003 World Cup, played 244 balls to rescue his team that was at a time 60 for 4 after being put into bat by Binod Das.
Aamir Akhtar, making his debut to the national team, picked two early wickets using the moist wicket. Basant Regmi, the hero of the U-19 Plate final against New Zealand, then grabbed a brace for himself with his left-arm spin.
Namibia’s responed through a 97-run stand between Kotze and Gerrie Snyman. Snyman hit four fours and two sixes in his 95-ball innings scoring 60 runs before falling Mehboob Alam. Kotze with Bjorn Kotze (28 not out) carried the team through to the close without any further loss. Alam too picked two wickets.
Brief Scorecard:
Toss: Nepal (field)
Namibia First Innings
AJ Burger c Alam b Regmi 43 (83)
D Botha c Katuwal b Akhtar 10 (39)
SF Burger c Katuwal b Akhtar 0 (3)
LJ Burger c Katuwal b Regmi 5 (28)
DB Kotze not out 90 (244)
G Snyman lbw Alam 60 (95)
SJ Swanepoel b Alam 4 (19)
BL Kotze not out 28 (116)
Extras (lb 2, w 1, nb 2) 5
Total (6 wickets, 104 overs) 245
FoW: 1-28, 2-32, 3-60, 4-60, 5-157, 6-175.
Nepal Bowling: Mehboob Alam 23-6-50-2, Binod Das 12-3-33-0, Aamir Akhtar 7-1-37-2, Shakti Gauchan 14-5-20-0, Basant Regmi 23-4-51-2, Raj Kumar Pradhan 18-4-39-0, Sharad Vesawkar 6-0-10-0, Gyanendra Malla 1-0-3-0