Vishwakarma stars as Nepal and Zimbabwe win
Rahul Vishwakarma starred with 6 for 4 in Nepal's win over Papua New Guinea, while Zimbabwe also beat Namibia in their play-off
ESPNcricinfo staff
23-Aug-2012
The Nepal spinner Rahul Vishwakarma recorded the best bowling figures of the tournament when he finished with a remarkable 6 for 3 from 6.2 overs at the Peter Burge Oval in Brisbane. His efforts set up a comprehensive six-wicket win for Nepal over Papua New Guinea in their 13th place play-off, as Papua New Guinea were skittled for 89 having chosen to bat. Vishwakarma, who bowls left-arm orthodox, demolished the middle order and then capped off his performance by completing a run-out to end the innings in the 34th over, leaving Nepal with a simple chase on their hands.
Three wickets from Albert Geita wasn't enough for Papua New Guinea, who could do nothing to stop Nepal from cruising to their target with more than 30 overs to spare. Naresh Budayair top scored with 27 as Nepal finished on 90 for 4, and Vishwakarma ended the day as the tournament's second leading wicket taker behind England's Reece Topley.
Zimbabwe proved too strong for Namibia in their 15th place play-off at the WEP Harris Oval in Brisbane, where half-centuries to Ryan Burl and Matthew Bentley set up a 70-run victory for Zimbabwe. Having chosen to bat, Zimbabwe were in trouble at 10 for 2 as Jason Davidson (3 for 26) removed both the openers, before Bentley and Kevin Kasuza (33) resurrected the innings. They put on 62 for the third wicket before Kasuza departed and Bentley, the Zimbabwe captain, combined with Burl for a 113-run fourth-wicket stand. Bentley made 67 and Burl scored 78, and while the contributions from the Zimbabwe lower order fell away significantly, they had done enough to reach 236 for 9.
Namibia struggled to recover from a wobbly start to their chase as they stumbled to 49 for 4 in the 15th over. Gerhard Erasmus (32) did what he could to put the chase back on track but Luke Jongwe and Peacemore Zimwa picked up three wickets each as Namibia struggled for traction. Jongwe grabbed the final wicket in the 41st over, with Namibia on 166, still 71 runs short of their target.