ICC WCL Division One, 3rd place Play-Off: Afghanistan beat Netherlands by 5 wickets
Afghanistan completed a comprehensive 5 wicket win against Netherlands in the ICC World Cricket League Division One at Hazelaarweg, Rotterdam.
Batting first, Netherlands put up a total of 218 for the loss of 5 wickets (at a run-rate of 4.36 runs per over). Afghanistan were not challenged much in the chase, and got home with 4 overs to spare and 5 wickets in hand.
Netherlands won the toss and elected to bat first. The decision proved to be not the correct one, as both openers were sent back early. Alexei Kervezee was caught by Mohammad Nabi off the bowling of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mirwais-Ashraf-c1971 in the 4th over. Kervezee scored just 3 runs from 9 balls.
His opening partner, Eric Szwarczynski, did not last too long and was caught behind by Mohammad Shahzad off the bowling of Mirwais Arif for his 2nd wicket (in the 8th over; he contributed only 7 runs off 21 balls, with one boundary).
However, there was a good partnership in the middle of the innings from Tom Cooper and Peter Borren; the pair fought hard to fend off the aggressive bowling display from Afghanistan. Mirwais, in particular, was making the ball go both ways and giving hardly any room for free flowing strokes.
As soon as the spinners came on, Cooper and Borren started playing some big shots, the use of feet was excellent especially from Cooper who came down the track number of time looking to counter the spin.
The partnership was broken when Borren was bowled by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hamid-Hassan-c1524 in the 33rd over, after scoring 28 runs from 71 balls with 2 boundaries.
Bas Zuiderent, in at number 5, failed to make his presence felt, and was caught by Shabir Noori off the bowling of Mohammad Nabi in the 38th over. He scored 8 runs from 16 balls.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wesley-Barresi-c96487 once again put on a good partnership with Cooper; the two started to lift the scoring rate, and as the 2nd ball came in after the 33rd over, the pair played some lifted shots.
The two added 69 runs for the 5th wicket before http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Cooper-c51561 was dismissed 4 short of a hundred; he scored 96 runs from 135 balls with 7 fours.
Barresi continued the good work, but in the final overs, Afghanistan once again pulled it back and restricted Netherlands to just 218. Barresi was unbeaten in the end at 51 from 40 balls, with 4 fours and 3 sixes.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Netherlands-c753’.
The first 2 wickets went down with just 5 on the board; Shabir Noori was caught behind off the bowling of Mudassar Bukhari for naught on the 5th ball of the first over.
And soon Javed Ahmadi was caught in the slips by Tom Cooper off the bowling of Mudassar Bukhari; he scored just 3 runs from 9 balls.
Afghanistan needed a solid partnership, and Mohammad Shahzad and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nawroz-Mangal-c2084 provided just that. The two senior men in the team knew that the required rate was not too high, and decided to see off the new ball.
The pair scored at barely 4 and a half runs per over, which actually was just about the required rate, and resurrected the innings.
The partnership was broken after 78 runs, when Mangal was caught by Borren off the bowling of Bernard Loots after scoring 27 runs from 47 balls.
Next man in Stanikzai looked in good touch, and was on the offense quickly. He counterattacked the Netherlands’ attack, and started playing big shots early in his innings.
While Mohammad Shahzad kept the score ticking at the other end, the pair added 83 runs for the 4th wicket, and got the team within striking distance of the target.
Shahzad was dismissed after scoring 82 runs from 108 balls with 8 fours, but Stanikzai carried on and made 64 from 68 balls.
In the end, Karim Sadiq knocked off the winnings runs, as Afghanistan got home on the final ball of the 47th over with 5 wickets in hand.
Tom Cooper from Netherlands was named man of the match, despite being on the losing side, for scoring 96 runs and taking a wicket for his team.
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