ICC World Cricket League Division One, 2nd Match: Ireland beat Kenya at Rotterdam
Ireland beat Kenya by 7 wickets in their first match of ICC World Cricket League Division 1 in Hazelaarweg, Rotterdam. Ireland, who defeated Pakistan in the 2007 World Cup, won the toss and chose to bowl first. The pitch was expected to offer some assistance to the bowlers and the Irish bowlers took full advantage of the conditions.
Kenya came out to bat with an aim to spend some time in the middle. Openers Ouma and Patel continued to leave deliveries outside their off stump as Ireland bowled with 3 slips. It was a safe decision, considering the moving ball and a good line and length. Runs were hard to come by as the Irish bowlers bowled at the right line and length.
Kenya was crawling at a scoring rate of under 3 runs per over when Ireland made the first breakthrough when Kenyan captain Ouma was sent back to the pavilion. He was caught behind off the bowling of Johnston as Ouma scored 17 runs from 35 balls with only 2 boundaries.
Obanda stepped onto the pitch with a mindset to lift the abysmal run rate. He did take some time to size up the bowling before opening up by playing the big shots. While Patel at the other end remained subdued, the pair put on 36 runs for the second wicket partnership as Obanda’s bat started to talk. Patel was finally put out of his misery at a score of 18 from 48 balls when he was caught at point by O’Brien on the bowling of Cusack.
Obanda found a partner who complimented his stroke play as Obuya came to the middle. Both batsmen decided to dig-in and did not take too many risks. They waited for the bad deliveries and were most effective on their pads. The third wicket stand could only last for 44 runs as Obanda was sent back packing after scoring 40 runs from 52 balls. He was caught by O’Brien off the bowling of Dockrell.
But it was pretty much all downhill from there for Kenya as Kamande was dismissed without scoring with a suicidal run-out. Obuya also left soon after he was bowled by Mooney after scoring 30 runs from 51 balls with 2 boundaries and a six.
Otieno came in at number six but did not produce many runs as he was caught by Stirling off the bowling of Johnston for just 8 runs from 16 balls. Kenya was all out for just 163 runs inside 46 overs. Johnston Cusack and Mooney claimed 2 wickets each for the Irish team.
The Rotterdam wicket still had some juice left in it and Kenya got the good swing with the new ball. However, Ireland was better equipped to deal with the moving ball and made sure they weathered the initial few overs.
Ireland in reply lost the first wicket early as Hall was dismissed for just 6 runs from 25 balls. However, this set-back did not affect the Irish. Stirling and Cusack put on a brilliant second wicket stand. With a modest target to chase, there was understandably no hurry to get on with the run rate and both batsmen took their time. But as soon as the ball stopped moving, Stirling decided to use the long handle. He smashed 4 boundaries and a six in the space of 3 overs to lift his strike rate close to a hundred. Cusack in the mean while continued to anchor the innings. The pair put on 125 runs for the second wicket and all but assured victory for the team.
Stirling was dismissed with just 9 runs left to win as he scored 87 runs from 106 balls with 8 boundaries and a six. Ireland got home in the 40th over with 3 wickets to spare. AR Cusack was named as the man-of-the-match for his all-round performance.
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