Michael van Lingen creates ODI history for Namibia

Namibian cricketer Michael van Lingen scored his fifth ODI century during the match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2. During that knock, the left-handed batter created a new record for his nation.

After the UAE chose to field first, Namibian openers Michael van Lingen and wicketkeeper-batter JP Kotze provided a fiery start for the hosts. They scored 84/0 at the end of 10 overs, which is their record score in the first 10 overs in an ODI match (records according to ESPNcricinfo, where ball-by-ball data is available). 

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Namibian openers set up record first-wicket ODI partnership

The opening partners added 142 runs in 15.5 overs before Kotze was dismissed for 64 runs off 53 balls (six fours and four sixes). It was Namibia's first century partnership for the opening wicket in ODI history. Meanwhile, it was Namibia's fourth-highest ODI partnership for any wicket. 

Michael van Lingen recorded the fastest ODI hundred for Namibia

Meanwhile, Van Lingen continued his dominant batting. After completing his 50 runs in just 26 balls, Van Lingen completed his fifth ODI hundred in 70 balls. It is the new fastest ODI century record by a Namibian batter. 

According to ESPNcricinfo records, Craig Williams was the previous record holder for the fastest ODI century by a Namibian batter. In March 2023, Williams completed his first ODI century in 85 balls against Oman at Al Amerat. 

In the latest ODI against UAE, Van Lingen scored 107 runs off 85 balls before Basil Hameed took his wicket. In that firing batting, the left-handed opening batter hit nine fours and four sixes. When he was dismissed, Namibia scored 219/5 in 32.2 overs. Ultimately, Namibia managed 313 all out in 50 overs.

While both the openers lost their wickets after dominance, the next Namibian batters lost their wickets cheaply. Only Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton and Bernard Scholtz managed to add some useful runs on the board. While Loftie-Eaton scored 54 off 63 balls, Scholtz scored 24 off 27 balls.

Among the UAE bowlers, Ali Naseer picked up more than one wicket in that innings as the right-arm medium finished with the bowling figures of 10-0-57-3.