Estonia v Luxembourg at Corfu – European Championship Division Two Twenty20 (Group A) – Match Update
Estonia skipper Tim Heath scored a quick-fire unbeaten half-ton, and followed it up with a 3-wicket haul to propel his side to a 59-run victory over Luxembourg, during their Group A match on September 5 at the Marina Ground, in the ongoing European Championship
Division Two Twenty20 being held in Corfu.
Estonia stepped up to bat first, and openers Nand Lal Riar (30) and Moshiur Rahman (1) step up a fleeting partnership which came to an end with the dismissal of the latter, caught out by wicketkeeper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Neale-c79015.
Riar went on to establish a 35-run stand with Timothy Filer (49), after which he was caught and bowled by Taral Desai (4-0-20-3). Filer, however, soldiered on, joining skipper Heath (52* off 33) for a 51-run 3rd-wicket stand, which got the team
total up to 97.
Filer was sent packing by Desai, and batsmen Murali Obili (5) and wicketkeeper Marko Vaik (0) proved ineffective partners for Heath. Sivalingham Arunachalam, however, contributed 11* runs, in addition to setting up an unbeaten 45-run stand with Heath, which
enabled their side to post a final total of 167 at the expense of 5 wickets, by the end of 20 overs.
Chasing 168, Neale (37) attempted to hold up Luxembourg’s innings, but was unable to find any consistent batsmen to partner with. His team eventually crumbled at 108, in the face of the assault by Heath (3-0-12-3) and Obili (4-1-16-3).
Top order batsmen Timothy http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Barker-c47300 and Desai were both dismissed on duck, with the team total remaining static at zero. Neale, at number 2, found some help in the form of Joost Mees (8), with whom he set up a 32-run 3rd-wicket stand.
After Mees dismissal at the hands of Rahman, skipper Tony Whiteman stepped up with a 21-run contribution, in addition to joining up with Neale for a 44-run stand. However, he was soon sent packing by Heath, and Nishith Gandhi (13) who followed remained the
last batsman to contribute a double-digit score.
The remainder of the batting order were unable to step up to the challenge posed by the chase, and Luxembourg were restricted to 108, with 9 wickets down, by the end of 20 overs – 59 runs short of the target.
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