Namibians deserve credit - Stewart

Stand-in captain Alec Stewart refused to be downbeat after England were given a fright by World Cup minnows Namibia in Port Elizabeth.

England eventually won by 55 runs, although Jan-Berry Burger and Daniel Keulder had made an upset look conceivable halfway through Namibia's reply to England's 272.

"A win's a win," Stewart insisted. "It's four points in the bag and we won by a good margin in one-day cricket. You have to give credit to the opposition, they relished the challenge and the run chase, but at the end of the day we won and we won well.

"They were keen as mustard from ball one, but 270 on a slow wicket is a score we'd have taken at the start obviously."

Asked about England's latest injury concerns Stewart replied: "Nasser Hussain has had a (neck) problem for 36 hours, but we have a good physio in Dean Conway and hopefully he will be right for the next game on Saturday (against Pakistan).

"Ian Blackwell (back) is lying on a bed with ice pack on. We want the full 15 fit so we can pick our strongest 11 for Saturday. But you've got to accept these things. We're a closely-knit squad and the happenings of the last few weeks have brought us together.

"We've got three really big ones to play in Australia, India and Pakistan - but we've played two, won two and if we continue that we've got a great chance of getting in the Super Sixes."

Namibia coach Dougie Brown was understandably thrilled with the efforts of his team.

"We came out here to try and get into the game in the first instance and after about 30 overs of our innings you could see panic setting in among the England players," Brown said.

"Credit to JB Burger and Daniel Keulder. England were too strong on the day overall but it was a fantastic effort by everyone. They are a fantastic bunch of lads, the team spirit is great, the work ethic is great, I couldn't ask for more.

"It's a new experience for these guys. They are just relishing every single moment of the World Cup, they are savouring the atmosphere. We're learning with every game and it's great to see them putting into practice in our matches some of the things we're doing in training."

Namibia captain Deon Kotze added: "We've enjoyed every minute, even when we've lost. Hopefully it will do a hell of a lot for Namibian cricket. I hope people watching will have enjoyed the way we competed."