(If you manage to read all the way to the end there might be a tasty treat for you!!!)
ADAMSKI LOVES CRICKET.
This episode of Adamski loves cricket features round ups of
matches in the intercontinental cup match between The Netherlands and the
United Arab Emirates plus results of their clashes in the World Cricket league
championship all held in The Netherlands.
Plus news and results of when worlds collide as the test
world clashes with the associate world. Yes that’s right; Bangladesh tours
northern Europe with matches against Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands.
Add in all the referrals to the various point’s tables and
we’ll call it an episode worth watching.
Hi there and welcome to Adamski loves cricket and all the
updates from just outside the test boundary. Let’s just say that I’m Adamski
and press on with a pretty packed update.
Let’s start with the 4 day intercontental cup clash between
the Netherlands and the visiting united Arab Emerits team.
You would have to say that the Dutch start this match as
favourites not just for having home advantage but for coming off a rich run off
success in the CB40 domestic series in England (in which they compete). They
have developed a strong unit of talented cricketers that are all in good form
and look fiercely determined to move up the points table and in the ranking in
all forms of cricket at every level. They will also be desperate to move away
from the congested middle of the table and start working their way away from
the pack and start chasing down the pack leaders, or more likely the pack 2nd
and 3rds as Ireland have an almost unassailable lead in this I-cup competition.
A quick glance as to how the points are distributed before
the start of this match shows Ireland way out in front with 67 points, Scotland
and Afghanistan trail 20 odd points behind in 2nd and 3rd
respectively with only 2 points between the two of them but our attention is
drawn to the battle for 4th place and the fact that there is only 1
point between 4th placed U.A.E. and 7th placed Kenya. And
with The Netherlands and U.A.E. tied on 23 points each the battle is to move
clear of the middle of the pack, claim 4th place as their own and
put as much distance between the rest of the pack as possible. Claiming the
full 14 points available for an outright win will put either of these teams
within challenging distance of 2nd and 3rd place.
Points table for matches completed by 12 Jul 2012
|
Teams
|
Mat
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Tied
|
Draw
|
Aban
|
Pts
|
Quotient
|
For
|
Against
|
|
Ireland
|
4
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
67
|
1.554
|
1414/49
|
1430/77
|
|
Scotland
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
46
|
1.263
|
1377/38
|
1205/42
|
|
Afghanistan
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
44
|
0.916
|
1475/62
|
1663/64
|
|
United Arab
Emirates
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
23
|
1.174
|
1760/58
|
1267/49
|
|
Namibia
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
23
|
0.977
|
1444/46
|
1607/50
|
|
Netherlands
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
23
|
0.959
|
667/28
|
671/27
|
|
Kenya
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
22
|
0.668
|
603/39
|
879/38
|
|
Canada
|
4
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
10
|
0.542
|
1299/60
|
1317/33
|
Alas, both these nations aren’t just battling each other but
are also battling the awful summer weather that Europe has been experiencing.
So many washouts this summer with games shortened, matches abandoned and
grounds flooded means that this 4 day encounter is almost guaranteed to be affected
too.
And it is, right from day one as only 37 full over’s are
able to be completed on the first days play.
U.A.E. won the toss and chose to bowl, the first wicket coming in the 10th
over of the day as De Bruin is caught for 8. This brings the Dutch captain,
Michael Swart, to the crease and he combines in a 64 run partnership with opener
Wesley Barresi whose half century includes 9 boundaries is the highlight of day
one. Barresi is out soon after reaching his milestone caught of the offspin
bowling of Tauqir for 52. Tauqir also managed to claim the wicket of Swart LBW
for 33 later in the day to leave the Netherlands at 118 / 3 and claim some
momentum for the U.A.E. before the rain set in for the shortened day.
Day 2 is a complete washout with no let up in the weather
conditions and, disappointingly, the prospects of either team pushing for an outright
victory now seems slim.
Play resumes on day 3 and the Dutch 4 wicket partnership between
Szwarczynski and Bashir produces 107 runs before Szwarczynski falls short of
his half century, bowled for 44. Bashir pushes on and produces his century in
his debut first class game becoming the first Netherlands batsman to do that
feat. He is out soon after for 102 LBW to the medium fast bowling of Javed who
is the best of the U.A.E. bowlers who goes on to spark a lower order batting collapse
in the Dutch ranks (they lose 5 wickets for 19 runs) and ends up with figures
of 4 wickets for 49 runs of 21.5 over’s.
A tale wag from the Dutch #11 batsman, Braat, also making
his debut, with his quick fire 23 pushes the Dutch total up to 308.
The U.A.E. batsmen seem determined to stick around but not necessarily
push for a victory or even 1st innings points as they stone wall the
Dutch bowling. Neither the less the Dutch attack claim both openers by the 27th
over to have the U.A.E. 49/2. By the end of the days play 41 over’s had been
sent down by the Netherlands attack and had managed to restrict the U.A.E. to
74 runs at a run rate of a mere 1.8 per over (compared to the Dutch 3.11
p/over) the pinnacle of the stonewalling coming from Shalman Anwar whose 20
runs come off 81 deliveries but still manage to contain four 4’s !!!
Day four is another washout. The frustrating weather has
ruined any chance of either team pushing for victory or even for 1st
innings points. The amount of rain interruptions incurred during this match means
that the points are shared at 7points each for the rain affected draw.
The upshot of this means that now both teams are still mid
table both on 30 points each. Neither having managed to launch a serious challenge
to Scotland /Afghanistan in 2nd/3rd place nor putting
enough distance between Kenya or Namibia who both have a game in hand yet to
play when they play each other in the near future.
Points table for matches completed by 19 Jul 2012
|
Teams
|
Mat
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Tied
|
Draw
|
Aban
|
Pts
|
Quotient
|
For
|
Against
|
|
Ireland
|
4
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
67
|
1.554
|
1414/49
|
1430/77
|
|
Scotland
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
46
|
1.263
|
1377/38
|
1205/42
|
|
Afghanistan
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
44
|
0.916
|
1475/62
|
1663/64
|
|
United Arab
Emirates
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
30
|
1.145
|
1834/60
|
1575/59
|
|
Netherlands
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
30
|
0.999
|
975/38
|
745/29
|
|
Namibia
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
23
|
0.977
|
1444/46
|
1607/50
|
|
Kenya
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
22
|
0.668
|
603/39
|
879/38
|
|
Canada
|
4
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
10
|
0.542
|
1299/60
|
1317/33
|
After the I-cup round in Deventura the action moves to
Rotterdam and the focus moves to the one day arena of the WORLD CRICKET
LEAGUE ... CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!
A quick look at the points table before this series begins
shows ...
Points table for matches completed by 12 Jul 2012
|
Teams
|
Mat
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Tied
|
N/R
|
Pts
|
Net RR
|
For
|
Against
|
|
Ireland
|
8
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
13
|
+1.187
|
1594/330.2
|
1203/330.4
|
|
Scotland
|
8
|
5
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
11
|
+0.250
|
1350/302.1
|
1306/309.4
|
|
United Arab
Emirates
|
6
|
5
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
+0.184
|
1151/279.2
|
1122/285.0
|
|
Afghanistan
|
8
|
3
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
7
|
-0.680
|
1214/307.3
|
1339/289.2
|
|
Netherlands
|
6
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
+0.373
|
1198/254.2
|
1208/278.3
|
|
Kenya
|
6
|
2
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
-0.250
|
1115/270.4
|
1174/268.4
|
|
Canada
|
8
|
1
|
6
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
-0.862
|
1226/311.5
|
1454/303.2
|
|
Namibia
|
6
|
1
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
-0.318
|
1076/259.0
|
1118/250.0
|
Ireland out in front with 13 points but this lead is nowhere
near as secure as their lead in the I-cup format as with 2 points per victory
handed out to winning teams it is possible that the U.A.E. could jump from 3rd
place to 4th during these two games against the Dutch. As for the
Netherlands, their mid table ranking does not credit the talent that their
nation possesses and is not becoming of an associate nation with 4 world cup
visits to their credit.
Sleeping giants
Several senior players retired -Tim De Leede – Baz Zuiderent
– Ryan Ten Deschate plying his trade as a professional t-20 player around the
world ... the make up of the team has changed drastically over recent times.
Rebuilding
There was a time, before the rise of Ireland and
Afghanistan, where the dominant teams outside the test boundary were Scotland,
the Netherlands and Kenya. While Kenya’s fortunes have taken a massive
downslide in recent years and they are still waiting for the pendulum to swing back in
their favour. Scotland and Netherlands rebuilding process has been
also been tough but more stable and both seem to be cresting the pendulum upswing,
coming of age , ready to challenge the
new pretenders to their rankings. Perhaps we will see a return to the heydays
of Scotland losing to the Netherlands off the last ball of an extremely close
and important fixture. Crushing hopes and dreams again. Ahhhh ... the good ol
days !!!
Anyway, enough nostalgia.
But looking at the table, the Dutch could do Scotland some
favours here by beating the U.A.E. and thus stalling the U.A.E. progress up the
points table while dragging their own points tally closer to the middle/top of
the table, getting them into a better position to challenge for one of the top
two positions in this league. Remember that only the top two finishers in this
league gain automatic qualification into the 2015 world cup held in Australia
and New Zealand, so winning these matches won’t do the Netherlands any harm
whatsoever.
And so we go off to Rotterdam for the first game of in this
two game series.
Thankfully the game is not shortened by rain or the weather,
but it is a short game thanks to some effective Dutch bowling from Bukhari who
claims 4-32 and Van Der Gugten with 4-41 to leave the U.A.E. flaying to be all
out in the 32 over of the 50 over match for a meagre 96 runs.
After the Netherlands won the toss and chose to bowl first Things
started well for the U.A.E. with the opening partnership earning 25 but the
breakthrough came from Bukhari in his 2nd over (the 4th
of the match) and with Van Der Gugten taking 2 wickets in his 1st
over the U.A.E. were never able to recover in any meaningful way. Rohan Mustafa
top scored with a determined 41 from 81 balls but with wickets falling at
regular intervals there was little he could do to effect a rally. The biggest
partnership in the U.A.E. innings was between him and the number 11 batsman,
Guruge which earn 30 runs (of which Guruge contributed precisely zero) before
Mustafa’s wicket was claimed by Swart.
The U.A.E. claimed three Dutch wickets in the Dutch run
chase but the total was never a challenge and Tom Cooper led the chase with a
quick 37 of 35balls to ensure the Dutch claimed an easy 2 points for the
victory. The run rate received a healthy boost too as the total was knocked
over inside 22 over’s, something that may be all important as this league
continues to be hugely contested and highly congested.
Game 2
The Dutch take a healthy amount of confidence back to
Deventer for the 2nd game in this series and again it’s a rain free
event. Perhaps the summer has finally arrived!
The Netherlands win the toss and choose to bowl first again.
The decision looks a good one as Van Der Gugten traps Amjad Ali LBW in the
first over for a duck to revive memories of the first match. This brought the
U.A.E. captain, Khurram Khan to the crease who had other ideas and set about
stabilising the innings. He joined in a 2nd wicket partnership of 119,
his 71 coming off 85 balls. Haroon Iftikhar contributed 41 of 77balls however
once they were dismissed Seelaar ( 3-44 )and Swart ( 2-36 ) kept taking wickets
at regular intervals to restrict U.A.E.
to a gettable 221 from their full 50 over’s.
The U.A.E. claim first blood in the 7th over as
Barresi is lbw for 17 runs with the total on 32. A 2nd wicket
partnership of 70 between Bukhari and Swart steadies the chase and when their
partnership comes to an end (both batsmen out 3 balls apart with Swart 2 runs
short of his half century) the Dutch still look in a comfortable position. With
the score on 162/3 in the 36th over the pendulum swings towards the
U.A.E. as they take 4 wickets for only 18 runs to instigate a batting collaps
and take back the advantage in this game.
Borren and Seelaar weren’t ready to concede defeat so easily
though and kept cool heads while combining in a match winning 8th
wicket partnership of 42. They milked the bowling, staying ahead of the
required run rate despite not hitting any boundaries (besides the big 6 hit by
Seelaar to win the match) with 1.2 over’s to spare.
And so the Netherlands claim another 2 points, another good
win and a clean sweep in the series. Which means that the points table now
looks like this ...
Points table for matches completed by 23 Jul 2012
|
Teams
|
Mat
|
Won
|
Lost
|
Tied
|
N/R
|
Pts
|
Net RR
|
For
|
Against
|
|
Ireland
|
8
|
6
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
13
|
+1.187
|
1594/330.2
|
1203/330.4
|
|
Scotland
|
8
|
5
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
11
|
+0.250
|
1350/302.1
|
1306/309.4
|
|
Netherlands
|
8
|
5
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
+0.643
|
1517/324.4
|
1525/378.3
|
|
United Arab
Emirates
|
8
|
5
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
-0.185
|
1468/379.2
|
1441/355.2
|
|
Afghanistan
|
8
|
3
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
7
|
-0.680
|
1214/307.3
|
1339/289.2
|
|
Kenya
|
6
|
2
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
-0.250
|
1115/270.4
|
1174/268.4
|
|
Canada
|
8
|
1
|
6
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
-0.862
|
1226/311.5
|
1454/303.2
|
|
Namibia
|
6
|
1
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
-0.318
|
1076/259.0
|
1118/250.0
|
The Netherlands move into 3rd place above the
U.A.E. due to a better run rate, (see, I told you it was important) and place
themselves in a much better position to challenge for one of the top two
places. They have also done Scotland a few favours by beating U.A.E. allowing
Scotland to retain their 2nd place position (for the time being at least)
but I’m sure this favour will be cashed in at a most inopportune moment for
Scotland causing them to miss out on automatic qualification to the 2015 world
cup by the smallest of heartbreaking margins possible. Call me a misanthrope
but I can see it now. Everyone, beware of the stirring giants.
The big news for the north European Associate nations is the
news that Bangladesh was committed to a short tour of Ireland to play some 20/20
matches in preparation for the world T-20 to be held in Sri Lanka in September.
The tour was extended to include games against Scotland and The Netherlands in
The Netherlands and it to this series that we turn our attention to in ...
“Worlds collide ...
when boundaries are crossed “
Let’s start at the beginning of the tour and Bangladesh
arrive in Ireland for the 1st of 3 matches.
Ireland will be keen to push their international reputation
further by proving they have what it takes to dine at the big table by beating
Bangladesh and showing that the gap between them and the lower ranked full
member nations is small and that they deserve a seat at the table, or at least,
a bigger slice of the international pie.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, will be keen to show that
they are no minnows and will want to put some distance between themselves and
Ireland (and the rest of the emerging nations) by racking up some convincing
victories and silencing their doubters.
The teams have met in this format of the game only once
before in the 2009n world t-20 in England where Ireland chased down 137 to
knock Bangladesh out of the competition.
But enough of history ... on to the game!!!
GAME ONE.
Ireland won the toss and sent Bangladesh in to bat on a good
pitch in Stormont, Belfast. The start was delayed by 30min as the rain tried to
ruin another fixture in an already wet and disappointing summer before the
passing rain showers wandered off to cause some misery somewhere else.
Once they were in though the Bangladeshis showed that they
meant business as a full strength side showed Ireland how to play international
T-20. Two of Bangladesh most respected international stars lead the way, Tamin
Iqbal with a run a ball 31, and Shakib Al Hasan with 57 from just 33 balls
which included 9 boundaries. Even once both these batsmen were out the carnage
didn’t stop. By the 15th over Bangladesh were 120/4 and then Ziaur
Rahmin arrived at the crease. In 17 balls he had plundered 40 runs including
five 6’s and helped the Bangladesh total reach 190/5 from the full 20 over’s as
the Irish bowling struggled to save face. Boyd Rankin, Ireland’s fastest bowler
and one England have hopes of poaching soon, looked match rusty but improved as
the match progressed and ended with match figures of 1 for 30. The experienced
Trent Johnston was the most economical with 0 for 23 from 4 over’s economy rate
5.75
Sorensen and Stirling both claimed 2 wickets each but with
42 runs and 38 respectively coming from their 4 over’s it was nothing to really
shout about.
Irelands reply started well with their captain, Porterfield,
keeping the run rate up at nearly 10 per over. The opening partnership of 32 is
ended in the 4th over when he is stumped of the bowling of Abdur
Razzak (the first of 2 victims for him) for 26 runs of only 16 balls including
four 4’s and two 6’s. It’s the pressure of having to maintain a run rate of
nearly 10 per over that has forced him into playing a rasher shot than normal
and it’s this pressure that falters all the Irish batsmen, well, that pressure
and some excellent bowling from the left arm spinner making his debut in
international T-20, Elias Sunny. He claims 5 wickets in the match including Ed
Joyce and Naill O’Brian to destroy Ireland’s hopes of competing in this match
as they limp to 119/8 from their 20 over’s giving Bangladesh an emphatic 71 run
victory.
Razzak’s figures of 2 for only 9 runs from his 4 over’s
gives him the amazing economy rate of only 2.25 per over but its Sunny’s 5for13
that claims the man of the match award (Sunny’s economy rate of 3.25 is also
not to be sniffed at.)
Elias Sunny also earns the interesting and unique record of
becoming the first player to be named man of the match on debut in two
different formats. His other man of the match award was for his debut in his
first test match against the West Indies last month.
His 5for13 in this T-20 makes him the first Bangladeshi to
take a 5for in T-20’s and only the 7th bowler to do it overall. He
was on a hat trick in his first over having Ed Joyce caught on the square leg
boundary and then Naill O’brian stumped next ball.
Simply by playing this game gave Bangladesh the minimum
amount of games played to make it onto the rankings table. Ireland is still
above them at the moment but that could all change dramatically next game.
Ireland must be scratching their heads as to what went wrong
for them in this game. They can’t say they were underprepared as they’d been
talking it up and preparing for weeks. Perhaps it was an off day for them or
perhaps Bangladesh really is that much of a better team than them. They
certainly seemed hungrier than Ireland. Lucky for Ireland there another game or
two in this series to redeem themselves.
GAME TWO.
Bangladesh win the toss and choose to bat. Their unchanged
side remains at full strength while the Irish side is missing Boyd Rankin with
a side strain and Naill O’Brien due to lack of form. Andrew Poynter replaces
him after a good showing in the world T-20 qualifiers and George Dockrell is
back from under 19 duties. Bangladesh found the scoring tougher going this time
as the Irish bowlers kept tighter lines. The pressure became too much for
opener Tamin Iqbal and he was out going for a big swing for 0 from 9 deliveries
in the 4th over, caught by a classic catch from Dockrell running
backward over extra cover and taking a diving catch off Trent Johnston.
Johnston was, as usual, the tightest of the Irish bowlers
giving away just 20 runs off his 4 over’s at an economy rate of 5. Iqbal was
the only wicket he claimed though.
Mohammad Ashraful set about marshalling the middle order who
threatened to look threatening but fell at regular intervals. His solid 38 of
46 gave Nasir Hossain the platform to launch into his 50 not out of 33 balls
(with four 4’s and two 6’s) which in turn pushed Bangladeshis’ total to a solid
146/6 off 20 over’s thanks to his injection of excitement in the last few
over’s.
Bangladesh open with spin hoping to choke the Irish batting
as in the first match but the Irish openers get off to a fluent start pushing
31 runs off the first 4 over’s before Porterfield is run out after being sent
back by Stirling attempting a 2nd run. When Stirling is bowled by
Elias Sunny for 26 three over’s later there is a feeling that Irelands best
chance has gone. Ed Joyce and Gary Wilson combine for a steadying 3rd
wicket partnership of 55 at better than a run a ball before Sunny claims Wilson’s
wicket, stumped attacking for runs. His 37 comes from 27 balls. Kevin O’Brien
and Poynter come and go as the Bangladesh spinners strangle the runs as
effectively as they failed to do so at the top of the innings. With 10 runs
required off the final over Mahmudullah kept the pressure on and his first 3
deliveries cost only 2 runs and with his next two claimed the wickets of
pointer then Joyce both caught at long on and long off respectively chasing the
boundaries Ireland desperately needed to win.
Trent Johnston shows them how hitting the long ball is done
and hits the final ball over the boundary for a 6 but it a fraction too late
and Ireland lose this match by a single solitary one run.
While the Ireland camp put on a brave face their coach, phil
Simmons says it was a better performance and were on top for 80% of the time
but they lost the game in the last couple of over’s of each innings. This loss
clearly stings Ireland as they know they should have won it and added another
full member scalp to their cabinet that already includes England Pakistan and
Bangladesh on two previous occasions.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, can’t be happy with the way things
turned out despite the win as to gain the creditability they crave they need to
avoid close finishes like this against lower ranked opposition and inflict more
heavy defeats like in game one. There are positives for them as they gave
Ireland a lesson in how to apply pressure during the death over’s and Elias
Sunny was again the best bowler with figures of 2 for 18 off 4 over’s with an
economy rate of 4.5 but the man of the match is awarded to Nasir Hossain for
his swashbuckling 50 that saved Bangladesh’s blushes.
GAME THREE.
Ireland win the toss and chose to bat first. They go into
the match with 2 changes. Tim Murtagh makes his debut in for Alex Cusack while
Naill O’Brian is in for Ed Joyce. (Bit of a harsh change that one... top score
in the previous match = get dropped for the next one!!! sometimes cricket is a
harsh game. Oh well !!!)
Ireland get off to a good start and in the 9th
over they are 2 for 71 before the 2nd wicket partnership of 46
between Porterfield and Naill O’Brian is brought to an end both losing their
wicket in close succession. Irelands batsmen were guilty of getting good starts
then getting out, usually to Mortaza who’s career best figures of 4 for 19
ensures the Ireland total was kept low, before the familiar middle order collapse
ensures including Kevin O’Brians 2nd duck of the series. Trent
Johnsons late innings blitz, hitting 24 off 14 deliveries propped Irelands
total up to 140.
Wickets were the key to Ireland’s chance of winning this
game and they needed to take them quickly. Unfortunately the Bangladesh openers
had other ideas and in the 10th over Tamin Iqbal and Mohammad
Ashraful had set a record opening stand for their country of 62 runs. The first
time a Bangladesh opening partnership has passed 50 in T-20 internationals
Ashraful’s unnecessary attack on Mooney saw him out, caught on the long on boundary
attempting to hit the spinner out of the ground brought about a batting collapse
that lost 5 wickets for only 25 runs.
62 for no loss was soon 89 for 6 and Ireland felt the game
was in their hands. That is until Mortaza took a liking to Dockrell’s last over
smashing three 6’s from it, one which should have been caught by Kevin O’Brien
on the boundary edge before he misjudged it and knocked it over the rope for a
maximum.
Mortaza’s 30 came from just 13 balls and includes four 6’s
but there was still work to do and runs to score when he was out, bowled by
Kevin O’Brien (making up for that dropped catch ?), with just 7 balls remaining
leaving the tail with 3 runs to win.
Once again the exceptional Trent Johnston is into the fray
and he makes the Bangladeshis’ earn every run by applying the maximum pressure
possible. But despite his best efforts which see him clam a vital run stopping
wicket off the 3rd ball of the over, by the time the last ball is
ready to be bowled the scores are level.
Elias Sunny, the outstanding bowler from the previous two
games, is left to try and score the winning runs. All the Irish players are in
close fielding positions... everything is close ... the pressure is on.
A scampered single ... a shy at stumps by Kevin O’Brien ...
its close ... so close ... but not close enough ... and Bangladesh are through
to victory by the narrowest of margins.
It’s another heartbreaking near miss to Ireland and one that
the series score line, 3-nil to Bangladesh, doesn’t reflect justly.
Failing to show up for the first game of the series and
getting blown away is one thing but not applying pressure for the right moments
is where the remaining two close games were lost.
The Ireland camp are
heard to have said that inexperience is what cost them the series and there may
well be a fair bit of truth in that statement. Ireland play far fewer T-20 than
full members and this was their first home series in T-20 since 2008. Something
that they hope to address with further funding from the ICC and also a more
inclusive attitude from the full member nations.
The Bangladeshi coach, Richard Pybus, was reportedly
realistic in victory saying that the 2 recent games were probably a better
reflection of where both teams are........... (Wax lyrical / ad lib ) ...
despite what the international rankings table says after these matches !!!
I won’t talk too much about the international rankings table
because...
-
The volatile nature of the table. (much like the volatile nature of the T-20
game itself)
-
- Bangladesh
weren’t even on the table due to not having played enough games within the
designated period.
-
The table works on a different formula/format
than the I-cup/WCL championship tables
-
- Bangladesh
is under no obligation to host Ireland for 3 T-20 matches in return.
However, it is worth mention briefly that Bangladesh; thanks
to these 3-0 victories over Ireland have not just made it onto the ranking
table but have moved all the way up into 4th position!!! This places
them above teams like Australia and Pakistan and not far behind Sri Lanka and South
Africa. Meanwhile Ireland has slipped down from 9th to 11th
place of the ranking table.
Bangladesh leave Ireland and head over to the Netherlands
for a one off game against Scotland and also a one off game against the
Netherlands.
Scotland first and the weather in the Hague holds up and we
get another uninterrupted game in.
Scotland wins the toss and choose to bat first. Openers MacLeod
and Berrington get off to a solid start of 28 for the first wicket before Macleod
is out stumped in the 4th over for 19 off 13 balls trying to keep
the attack going. But it’s Berrington who is the star for Scotland. His shot
selection is outstanding playing shots to all parts of the ground and his
century comes in just 58 balls and contains ten 4’s and five 6’s. With his
century Berrington not just ensures that Scotland reach a quality total of 162
but also writes himself a place in the record books as his is only the 7th
century scored in international T-20 and the first ever by an associate player.
His dominance of the Bangladeshi bowling is highlighted by
his 4th wicket stand of 68 in 7 over’s with Preston Mommsen during
which Mommsen only managed to contribute 11 off 14 balls. But when someone is
in such dominant form as Berrington was its better to just turn the strike over
to them and watch them turn it on. Which is exactly what Scotland did.
Eventually Berrington is out in the 19th over
trying to smash it out of the ground again but getting a leading edge instead
and getting caught on the extra cover boundary by Mortaza of the bowling of
Razzak.
Mortaza and Razzak are the best bowlers for Bangladesh with
2 for 22 and 2 for 32 respectively while the rest of the bowling chipped in
with wickets to make sure that the 2nd highest score in Scotland’s
innings was Macleod’s 19 at the top of the order.
Berringtons century dominates the score sheet as Scotland
total is 162/7 from 20 over’s.
The Bangladesh run chase started well and was on pace at the
end of the 6th over power play being exactly identical with Scotland’s
effort at the same time of 47/2.
But the full strength team lacked anyone to lay a foundation
to raise a challenge like Berrington did for the Scots and regular loss of
wickets for the Bangladeshis after the loss of Tamin Iqbal in the 6th
over, attempting an ill advised charge and big swing off the bowling of Davey
saw him caught behind for 26 off 22 balls, saw the run rate increase, the
pressure increase and wickets fall at regular intervals. The only resistance
coming from Shakib Al Hasan who stuck around long enough to top score with 31
off 29 balls before holeing out in the 16th over. Davie and Haq take
3 for 23 and 3 for 27 respectively to end Bangladesh hopes as they stumble to
128 all out in the 18th over and Scotland record a historic victory,
their first over a full member nation, by 34 runs.
After the match Scotland’s coach, peter Stiendl , praises
the composure of centurion Richie Berrington and added that Scotland had set
their sights on beating a full member nation over the last few years and felt
confident that the dedicated group of his hungry for success young team could
upset the Bangladesh applecart today.
It’s no surprise that Scotland are targeting full members,
especially lower ranked ones like Bangladesh, as they, and indeed the other
emerging nations similarly ranked as high performers outside the test boundary
(teams like Ireland, the Netherlands and Afghanistan) attempt to get the ICC
and the rest of the cricketing world attention and attempt to prove that the
gap between them and the lower ranked full members is actually very small and
more needs to be done to lift their cricket up to the same level as the test
nations benefit from.
Bangladesh, for their part, must be desperate to show that
they are worthy of their full membership as so many pundits and people are
constantly calling into doubt.
Wins like this to Scotland and other associate nations
enhance their cause while diminishing Bangladesh claims.
After this loss Bangladesh slipped down to 9th
place on the ranking table. (And that’s a fair indication of how volatile the
ranking table is for international T-20 actually is and why too much stock
cannot be put into it !!!)
NETHERLANDS V. BANGLADESH.
GAME ONE.
Next it’s the Netherlands turn to test their skills against
the Bangladeshis’.
The Dutch are coming into this game in a confidence high
after a great start in the English pro40 tournament (having won 4 of their
first 5 games) plus a good showing against the U.A.E. in the
I-cup and their clean sweep against the same opposition in the WCL one day
tournament. Now they turn their hand to the 4th format of cricket in
two weeks.
The Netherlands win the toss and chose to bat. But things
take a turn for the worst right from the start as Mortaza strikes in the first
over to have Barresi bowled and again in the 3rd to have cooper
caught at cow corner attempting to exploit the short boundary.
When Al Hasan claims Szwarczynski wicket the Netherlands are
3 for 14 in the 4th over and in danger of being blown out of the
match. Borren’s needless and panicked run out in the 8th over threatens
to undo some stabilising work by Swart whose 42 run partnership with De Grooth
for the 5th wicket is the best of the innings. Swart eventually
departs for 57 off 41 balls to be Al Hasan’s 2nd victim of the game
in the 15th over. It’s thanks to his innings and some late lofty
hitting from the tail that the Netherlands reach a total of 144/7 from their
full 20 overs.
It’s a good recovery from their disastrous start but losing
3 wickets in as many over’s is always going to be hard to recover from but this
total still looks 15 -20 runs short of par.
Early wickets are the order of the day if the Netherlands
want to push Bangladesh in this match. Their chance comes in the first over
when danger man, Tamin Iqbal, lofts an easy catch straight to Tom Cooper at
extra cover that is ... simply ... dropped. It turned out to be a costly error
as Iqbal went on to top score with 69 off 53 balls including five 4’s and two
6’s, although, he was quite cautious after his dropped chance, choosing to
settle in and attack later. This may have given some hope to the Dutch as at
the 10 over mark Bangladesh were 66 for 2 with 79 required off the final 10 over’s.
It was false hope for the Dutch though as Iqbal and Rahim,
with 37 off 24 balls, loosened up hitting the boundaries regularly in a
partnership of 82 including two 6’s off Bukhari to win the game in the 18th
over.
Borren utilized 8 bowlers in a desperate attempt to change
it up and keep the batsmen guessing but none of the bowlers walked away with
figures to brag about, Swart being the most economical with only 20 runs coming
off his 4 over’s to contribute e to a solid all-round performance from him but
lack of penetration was the problem for all the Dutch bowling.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, looked back to showing the
determination and fire that they needed to show in this clinical and
professional looking victory.
ONTO GAME TWO OF THIS ONE MATCH SERIES!!!
A game that was hastily added to the schedule as this series
was being played. And perhaps it’s a game that the Bangladesh management wished
they hadn’t bothered to add it at all !!!
In the Hague again Bangladesh win the toss and chose to bad
but things don’t go as planned for them as they lose Siddique in the first over
for a duck, Al Hasan in the 2nd over also for a duck and Rahim in
the 4th for only 2 runs to leave Bangladesh tottering at 3 down for
8 runs. As we saw in yesterday’s game when the Dutch had a similar disastrous
start it’s very hard to recover in any sort of powerful way.
Tamin Iqbal and Mahmudullah do their best to steady the
attack and their partnership is the best of the innings worth 62 for the fourth
wicket brfore Mahmudullah’s 41 of 31 balls comes to an end in the 12th
over.
Rahman is the 3rd of only three Bangladesh
batsmen to make it into double figures, his 22 coming off 17 deliveries before
being caught hitting high and wide, but not long, off the bowling of Van Der
Gugten who ended with the best of the Dutch bowling figures with 3 for 18 from
4 over’s and an economy rate of 4.5
Iqbal was out almost immediately after scoring his 50, his 2nd
in two games, and his wicket brought about a collapse as the tail failed to wag
and 5 wickets went down for the addition of only 8 runs in the last 10 balls of
the innings leaving Bangladesh with an immanently chase able total of all out
for 128 off the full 20 over’s.
The Dutch reply gets off to a solid start before Barresi is
bowled for 13 attempting to sweep Razzak in the 5th over. Cooper is
out next over playing on attempting to drive Al Hasan down the ground. It’s
left to Swart to guide the Netherlands through some tight bowling (none of the
Bangladeshi bowlers economy rate is above 7 per over) and his 3rd
wicket partnership with Borren of 34 is the best of the Dutch innings. Once
Borren goes for 16 off 16 balls Swart is a lone force as partners fall all
around him. Swart scores his 2nd half century in the series and his
61 comes from just 49 balls, but when he falls (stumped off a Mahmudullah slower
ball) with the score on 7/112 there are still 17 runs to score off 13
deliveries and the game is in the balance.
A wicket 3 balls later for the addition of only 2 runs doesn’t
help the Dutch cause and by the last over they require 10 runs from it.
With only 2 runs coming from the first three balls of the
over things are tightening up again and then Gugten helps the cause by hitting
a 6 off the 4th ball of the over to bring the Dutch just one run behind
the Bangladeshi total and looks like being the hero for The Netherlands.
Unfortunately he’s out LBW next ball, trying to turn it to
leg but getting through the shot too early, and the pendulum of the game swings
again.
The last batsman comes out to face the last ball of the game
needing two runs to win in his first ever batting experience for the Dutch
national side.
The pressure is on the number 11 batsman, Jamil, as the Bangladeshi
fielders surround him applying the pressure and stopping the single.
Razzak, the most economical of the Bangladeshi bowlers in
this match runs in ... the fielders all move in with him ... the pressure is
high ... only one more dot ball needed for a Bangladesh victory ... only one
run required for a tie ... only two runs needed for a Dutch victory ... all
results are still possible ... did I mention that the pressure is high ?
Razzak bowls, and Jamil coolly cuts the ball behind point, all the way to
the boundary and the Dutch win the game off the last ball of the game with the
last man in.
Another close game on
a tour that has been full of them. The Dutch team are ecstatic at their good
showing and at holding their nerve in such a tight finish and now add
Bangladesh to their list of full members they have defeated, a list that
already includes England and a list that they intend to keep adding to, given a
chance that is.
Bangladesh end on a downer.
And thus ends Bangladesh tour of north Europe. It’s clearly
been a mixed tour for them with the odd good showing but too many games that
were close, and crucially, too many defeats to nations outside the full member
ranks.
The Bangladesh management try to spin the negative issues at
play and in the days after the tour finishes it’s reported that the Bangladesh
coach has said that the tour helped Bangladesh to learn how to win games.
Well, I’m sorry but no matter how you look at it, a tour
that consists of one winning series (against Ireland), one lost series (against
Scotland) and one drawn series (against the Netherlands) is NOT a successful
tour in teaching you how to win. Especially considering the amount of games won
or lost by one run! A test playing full member should be crushing these minor
league nations without looking up to see how far in front they are or even
breaking into a sweat. This only happened twice in six games. Of the remaining
four matches 3 went right down to the last ball (winning 2 of them by one run
and losing the other by one run), and also suffering a thumping loss to Scotland.
Yes, they won 4 out of the 6 matches played, 2 of them
easily, and this is what the scorebook shows this must still be a disappointing
result for a nation that is trying to put distance between itself and the
emerging nations and trying to prove their worth to the cricketing elite by
being one of the elite that their status as full member suggests they are.
They have done nothing to silence their doubters.
While the associate nations have plenty to fly their
respective flags high for.
And the ICC has much to ignore.
This brings an end to this edition of Adamski loves cricket,
it’s been packed and I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Join me next time when I’ll have
updates from the Kenya v. Namibia clashes in both the intercontinental cup and
the world cricket league championships plus a look at how the associate nations
fare at the world T-20 in Sri Lanka
Until then, thanks for watching.
Bye.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8KnWizneDw
