Burger upbeat despite Ireland setback

Louis Burger, the Namibia captain, chose to see the brighter side of a dispiriting eight-run defeat to Ireland in their Intercontinental Cup match in Windhoek on Saturday. "One will always feel that it's a case of 'It's not over till it's over' and you always feel there is a chance, especially after the Scotland game," Burger told Cricinfo, "but we were very happy in securing our spot in the final by winning the first innings."

At 91 for 6, Namibia were in with a good chance of reaching their target of 115, but lost four wickets for 15 to be bowled out for 106. "Overall the batsmen found it hard to stay at the wicket seeing that one never felt 'in' on a wicket which assisted the bowlers a little," Burger said. "I feel that we should have scored the runs easily. Also, take nothing away from both team's bowlers, who bowled very well."

Ireland and Kenya will compete in Nairobi on October 11 for a birth in the final.

"The team with the biggest desire to play in the final will probably end up winning this one", Burger said. "Both teams do have excellent cricketers, and maybe one individual performance will swing it their way."