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Ireland take on Namibia in the second match of their ICC InterContinental Cup campaign in Windhoek on Saturday, with both sides heading into the match knowing a victory will leave them top of the table.
The duo will square-off with possibility of both the sides moving ahead of the Netherlands. Netherlands leads Namibia and Ireland by six points, but in the scenario of the side winning the match after conceding a first innings lead, the Dutch will drop to third as in this situation the side that wins the match will collect 13 points while the side that claims the first innings lead will get seven points.

Namibia have been preparing for the game by playing in South African domestic cricket, whilst Ireland arrived in Windhoek directly from Harare, where they have spent the last three weeks playing three ODI’s and a four-day match with Zimbabwe.

In the first round fixtures, reigning champion Ireland defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by an innings and 26 runs in Malahide in June, while Namibia recorded a 114-run victory over Hong Kong in May. Namibia will once again be aiming to make home advantage count against William Porterfield’s experienced side.

There has been one change to the original 14-man squad named by Ireland, with Max Sorensen returning home from Zimbabwe with a back injury, the impressive Stuart Poynter coming into the squad in his place.

Poynter goes into the match on the back of scoring his maiden first class century in the final tour match in Harare, while Paul Stirling, Gary Wilson, Kevin O’Brien, John Mooney and Niall O’Brien all made half centuries when in Zimbabwe.

On the batting side William Porterfield and Ed Joyce were rested for the final four-day tour game in Zimbabwe, the pair instead managing workloads and batting each day in the nets. Tim Murtagh was rested from the bowlers, with all three in contention to play in Windhoek.

Paul Stirling did not bat in the final innings of Ireland’s draw with Zmbabwe A as a precaution, after feeling some tightness in his quad, but he has recovered fully ahead of the Namibia game and is expected to take his place in the starting eleven.

With conditions extremely similar to those in Zimbabwe, Ireland are well acclimatised and required the minimal recovery time after their travel day to Windhoek, the side completing a full training session the day after arriving, with another session today ahead of the match helping the side get used to a new outfield and ground before the match.

The wicket at the Wanderers Club in Windhoek has been left green and watered well in recent weeks and as such, coach John Bracewell and captain William Porterfield have delayed naming a match day squad until this evening.

The pair will wait to see what the wicket looks like later in the day once it has been prepared for the match before deciding on the makeup of the team.

Tim Murtagh, who took ODI best figures of 4-32 in the third ODI against Zimbabwe is looking forward to the game in Windhoek.

“We made a great start to the ICup campaign in Dublin earlier this year and we have all been building up to this game, targeting it from a long way out.

“The games in Zimbabwe have been fantastic for us as usually before an ICup game we would arrive a couple of days before and have to adapt to conditions really quickly, it has been great to spend time playing and training in the same conditions before we got here.”

Murtagh missed out on the Zimbabwe A match but it has helped him prepare for this game.

“It is always disappointing not to be playing, but it has been a long season and it was good to get a few days bowling in the nets and working on fitness without the pressure of the game, especially heading into such an important match.”

The match is being held at the Wanderers Sports Club in Windhoek and will start at 10am local time on Saturday, which is 9am Irish time. You can follow all of the action and see highlights each evening on cricketireland.ie.

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