Namibia let North West off the hook on the opening day of their CSA Challenge match in Potchefstroom on Thursday and at stumps the honours were quite even. After being in deep trouble at 5/31 and then 7/97, North West staged a fine comeback before they were all out for 194. At stumps Namibia had reached 157/5 – still 37 runs behind with five first innings wickets in hand.
Namibia won the toss and elected to field – a decision which soon reaped dividends as Christie Viljoen dismissed Johan Mostert for 5 with the total on 9.
Louis Klazinga then got in on the act with a great spell of bowling as he took three wickets within seven balls to have North West in deep trouble at 20/4.
When Craig Williams dismissed Kyllin Vardhan for 12, North West had crashed to 31/5 and Namibia were well in charge.
Namibia could however, not maintain the pressure as Werner Coetsee led a fine revival by North West. He put on 37 runs with Jimmy Kgamadi and later 55 runs with Riyaadh Bhayat, and seemed set to reach his century before running out of partners.
When North West’s last batsman was eventually out, Coetsee was still at the crease on 92 not out – nearly half of the team’s total of 194 all out.
Louis Klazinga was Namibia’s best bowler, taking 4/38 off 15 overs, while Bernard Scholtz took 3/56 off 13 overs and Christi Viljoen 2/54 off 13 overs.
Namibia lost Raymond van Schoor early on for 6, but Gerhard Rudolph and the 17-year-old Stephen Baard, who was making his debut for the senior side shared a fine partnership of 72 runs before Rudolph was dismissed for 45.
Baard was dismissed for the same score by Kyllin Vardhan, who also dismissed Craig Williams for 35 and Louis Burger for 3, to reduce Namibia to 146/5.
Gerrie Snyman (6 not out) and Nicolaas Scholtz (4 not out) took the total to 157/5 by the end of the first day’s play.
The match continues on Friday and Saturday, while the one-day challenge between the same teams takes place on Sunday.