Cricket Update: ICC Intercontinental Shield 2009/10- Recap of final between U.A.E and Namibia, Day 1
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Intercontinental Shield 2009-2010 is a two-tier competition of ICC’s Intercontinental cup which is aimed to promote first class cricket amongst non-Test cricket playing nations.
The Shield cup was introduced in 2009 which included four teams that were positioned seventh to tenth in the 2009 World Cup Qualifiers.
This year, the teams that were vying for the cup were http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Namibia-c2964 and U.A.E got through the initial rounds to reach the final of the four day match which kicked off from 2nd December
at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai.
Namibia won the toss and chose to field first and it looked as Namibian captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Craig-Williams-c51765 made the right decision as the pitch looked bowler friendly.
U.A.E’s openers seemed unsure on the pitch as Namibian’s bowler Kola Burger took the first wicket of Amjad Ali who got bowled out for a duck after facing 11 balls.
The Emirati captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Arshad-c45521 Ali (8 runs off 15 balls)
was given leg before wicket.
Right-handed batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Saqib-Ali-c88733 soon followed Arshad to the pavilion as he scored four runs off 12 balls. U.A.E had their four batsmen down within first six overs as they struggled on 14 runs for the loss of four wickets.
As the top order fell, Shaiman Anwas and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Naeemuddin-Aslam-c78483 tried to bring their side to a respectable score. They steered their side to 51 runs by taking cautious singles and two runs. However, Anwar got into a horrible mix-up which left him stranded in the
middle of the pitch as K Burger ran him out. Anwar hit two boundaries to score the first double figure score (13 runs off 25 balls) before taking the painful walk back to the pavilion.
Naeemuddin was the only other batsman who made a double figure score as he hit five boundaries. Yet, he could not find the support he needed by his team mates as the middle order wicket continued to fall at regular intervals.
Indian originated batsman Swapnil Patil was also one of the victims of the seven-wicket haul of K Burger. He was bowled out for a duck as K Burger followed another delivery which hit at the stumps. This time the prey was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Tauqir-c77416 as U.A.E was still
on 51 for the loss of seven wickets. Four runs down, and K Burger had his sixth victim http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Amjad-Javed-c44094 who made two runs off 12 balls as U.A.E were disappointingly on 55 runs for the loss of eight wickets despite having the home advantage.
Naeemuddin tried hard to at least cross the 100-run mark yet his wicket fell to fast bowler http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Louis-Klazinga-c73186 as he scored 38 runs off 58 balls.
U.A.E’s first innings seemed wrapped up as K Burger took his last wicket of the innings of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Qasim-Zubair-c82855 who failed to score any run. U.A.E was bowled out in just 25.3 overs and scored 79 runs.
Namibia began their first innings right away and the score did not seem hard to chase as the Emirati bowlers pushed ruthlessly. The bowlers had a burst of confidence as opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shoaib-Sarwar-c90093.
However, the confidence was soon shacked by wicketkeeper and opener Ewald Steenkamp who started the campaign of taking control of the Intercontinental Shield final as he hit ten boundaries while completing his half century. He anchored his team to 105 as
he made 66 runs but was caught off by Swapnil Patil.
But if this damage was not enough, captain Craig Williams took major control of the final as he hit an aggressive century. He dominated a third wicket stand sharing a partnership of 161 runs with Sarel Burger who was unbeaten at 73. The opening session of
Namibia demolished U.A.E even though Williams (116) was run out again by Sarwar but Namibia were 266 runs ahead.
Namibia was on 267 for the loss of three wickets with S Burger and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tobias-Verwey-c94153 on the pitch.
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