The visiting Namibia team lost all four matches of the Triangular Series of the ICC World Cup League 2 after they succumbed to a 43-run defeat against Scotland at the TU ground in Kirtipur on Monday.

Winning the toss, Namibia invited Scotland to bat first and bowled them out for a moderate total of 221 runs in 48.4 overs after Ruben Trumpelmann claimed five wickets. Chasing the target, Namibia lost wickets at regular intervals and were bundled out for 178 runs, their lowest total in the series, in only 38.4 overs.

Though Scotland lost their wickets at regular intervals, a combined effort from the batters helped them post a moderate target. After losing openers Kyle Coetzer for a duck and ODI debutant Liam Naylor cheaply for 20 runs, the number three batter Christopher McBride contributed a 75-ball 47, the highest of the innings. He slammed four hits to the fence.

Captain Richie Berrington contributed 32 runs off 55 balls that included a boundary and a six. Tomas Mackintosh contributed a 48-ball 34, Michael Leask a 26-ball 29, Matthew Cross a 22-ball 16 and Chris Greaves a 12-ball 14. Tailender Mark Watt contributed 10 runs.

Left arm pacer Trumpelmann was the pick of the Namibian bowling. The player-of-the-match gave away 30 runs in his 9.4 overs of bowling. Tangeni Lungameni grabbed two wickets in his nine overs of bowling, giving away 58 runs. 

In the run chase, Namibia also kept losing wickets at regular intervals despite a half century by opener Lo-handre Louwrens. He scored 52 runs, the highest of the game, facing 67 deliveries that included four hits to the boundary. Captain Gerhard Erasmus was the second- best contributor for Namibia scoring a 38-ball 43 which comprised four boundaries and two sixes.

Apart from the duo, wicketkeeper batter Zane Green (25 runs off 40), Trumpelmann and Shaun Fouche (10 runs each) were the other batters to touch double-digit mark.

Scotland’s slow left arm orthodox bowler Mark Watt picked up four wickets in his 8.4 overs spell. He conceded 41 runs with two maiden overs. Michael Leask returned with figures of 10-1-42-3 and McMullen claimed two wickets.

Namibia return winless from Nepal

The outcome meant Namibia returned without a single win from four matches of the series. They had lost the opening match against hosts Nepal by two wickets before facing a 10-wicket hammering by Scotland. They had lost by three wickets in their second match against Nepal before losing their final match of the series on Monday.

The match outcomes came as a huge blow to Namibia in their ambition of qualifying directly into the ICC World Cup Qualifiers. Only the teams finishing in top three positions among the seven teams of League 2 secure a place for the qualifiers.

Namibia are third in the standings with 37 points while Scotland were crowned champions after they defeated the former in their first match of the series. They have 50 points before they play against Nepal in their last game, the 36th match of the League 2, on Tuesday.

Namibia are yet to play two matches against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and they could also lose their third position to the UAE or Nepal depending on the outcome of the remaining games of League 2. Each team will play 36 matches at the completion of the League 2 cycle.