YESTERDAY, Germany stunned cricket fans at the Botswana Cricket Association (BCA) Oval 1 by beating tournament favourite, Kuwait, by 11 runs at the ongoing World Cricket League Division Seven championship.Germanys victory has thrown the competition open as any of the three leading teams, Kuwait, Nigeria and Germany, could win the title, but only two of the lot will gain promotion to the Division Six. Nigeria enhanced its chances of winning the trophy yesterday by beating whipping boy, Japan, by 90 runs to bring its points haul to six, the same with Kuwait and Germany.At the game played at BCA Oval 2, Nigeria bounced back from its massive defeat to post a good target of 221 for the Japan, which has been struggling in this championship. Masaomi Kobayashis side took its time to claim its first wicket when, with 44 runs on the board, Ademola Onikoyi departed for 18 runs off the bowling of Naoki Miyaji.It was the day of Raheel Kano, as the 18-year old claimed two wickets in two balls after Tatsuro Chino put in some good work behind the stumps. Ultimately, the young Japanese bowler walked away with four wickets but not before Segun Olayinka had made 51 and Olajide Bejide had made 43 to contribute to the total.As the Japanese opening pair took to the field to bat in the afternoon sun of Gaborone, they put on a good partnership but Nigerias bowling and fitness in the field overpowered the Japanese batsmen. Patrick Giles-Jones, Tatsuro Chino and Ko Irie were promoted up the order, with captain Kobayashi dropping down to bat in sixth spot, but the promotion proved futile with none of them scoring higher than 14.Player/coach Sean Philips once again proved a key element to the Nigerian team by claiming three wickets, including that of Chino and opener Munir Ahmed. Fittingly, it was Philips that took the last wicket of the game as the sun began to set, bowling Satoshi Nakano and all but relegating Japan out of Division 7.Captain Endurance Ofem said after the game: We tried to stay positive after yesterdays defeat and we still believe we have a side that can make it to Malaysia. We know now our game against Botswana on Saturday is crucial, especially since Germany has beaten Kuwait today.From what I saw of Japan, I feel sorry for them that they are most likely going to be relegated from this division. I think their bowling attack is a bit weaker than most of the sides in this division and for us, they used spin when actually they needed pace to actually threaten the bat.I dont think they really knew what we had planned for them when they faced our bowling attack and if theyd protected their wickets a little better against our bowlers, perhaps they would have made more of a game of it.
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