England survived a scare to beat a gutsy Namibia side by 55 runs in their World Cup Group A match on Wednesday.Jan-Berry Burger made a run-a-ball 85, sharing a third-wicket partnership of 97 with Danie Keulder to give the tournament debutants, chasing 273 for victory, hope of a shock victory. SCOREBOARD England: Trescothick c L Burger b A Burger 58; Knight c L Burger b van Vuuren 6; Vaughan c L Burger b van Vuuren 14; Stewart c B Kotze b D Kotze 60; Collingwood c Keulder b Snyman 38; Flintoff c Keulder b Snyman 21; I Blackwell c van Schoor b Snyman 16; White c S Burger b van Vuuren 35; Irani c D Kotze b van Vuuren 12; Caddick b van Vuuren 4; J Anderson not out 0; Extras (lb-1, w-4, nb-3) 8; Total (50 overs) 272 FoW: 1/26, 2/43, 3/121, 4/159, 5/202, 6/205, 7/242, 8/264, 9/268 Bowling: Snyman 10-0-69-3 , van Vuuren 10-2-43-5, L Burger 9-0-45-0, B Kotze 3-0-24-0, D Kotze 10-0-35-1, A Burger 2-0-23-1, S Burger 6-0-32-0 Namibia: S Swanepoel c Vaughan b Anderson 8; Jan-Berry Burger c Collingwood b White 85; L Burger c and b Flintoff 5; D Keulder run out 46; G Murgatroyd b Irani 24; G Snyman b White 0; D Kotze b Flintoff 7; S Burger c Collingwood b Irani 5; M van Schoor not out 11; L Kotze b Irani 0; van Vuuren not out 12; Extras (lb-5, w-6, nb-3) 14; Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 217 Fall of Wickets: 1/12, 2/42, 3/139, 4/174, 5/174, 6/188, 7/190, 8/200, 9/200 Bowling: Caddick 8-2-28-0 (w-2), Anderson 8-0-44-1 (w-3),Flintoff 10-2-33-2 (w-1), White 10-0-46-2 (nb-2), Vaughan 6-0-31-0 (nb-1), Irani 8-0-30-3 But Keulder was run out for 46 and when Gavin Murgatroyd was bowled by Ronnie Irani for 24, Namibia were in trouble, losing four wickets in quick succession as the game petered out into the expected result. England posted a total of 272 all out from 50 overs, Marcus Trescothick (58) sharing a third-wicket partnership of 78 with stand-in captain Alec Stewart.Stewart, leading the side in the absence of the injured Nasser Hussain, was out for 60, Paul Collingwood made 38, and Craig White 35. Namibia seam bowler Rudi van Vuuren completed figures of five for 43.White, Irani and Andy Caddick fell to Van Vuuren in the final over as the seamer completed figures of five for 43.While batting, things seemed to be evenly balance as long as Jan-Berry Burger was around. But once he went, the rest of the batting folded up. However, to their credit, Namibia actually managed to last out the whole 50 overs, ending at 217 for nine wickets, with bowler Van Vuuren striking the last ball of the match for six.
