ICC World Cricket League Division One: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Netherlands-c753
Afghanistan completed an excellent 6 wicket win against Netherlands in the ICC World Cricket League Division One tournament at the Sportpark Westvliet in Voorburg.
Netherlands, who have been in good form in this tournament, disappointed with the bat and could only score 202 runs while batting first. Afghanistan had little trouble in overhauling the score with more than 7 overs to spare.
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to put the opposition in to bat. The decision was vindicated when Netherlands lost their first wicket early in the innings as Eric Szwarczynski was caught by Sadiq off the bowling of Khaliq after scoring just 5 runs.
However, Tom de Grooth and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Cooper-c51561 put on a good stand for the second wicket partnership as the pair put on 48 runs in almost 10 overs. Grooth was the first to go as Khaliq wrapped him on the pads for his second wicket of the match. Grooth scored 22 runs from 32 balls with 4 boundaries. The next wicket came off the very next ball as Barresi was caught in the slips off the very first ball to give Khaliq his third wicket and a chance to get a hat trick.
Bas Zuiderent was the next to come in as he compiled a good partnership with Cooper. The two batsmen started rebuilding the innings and put on 52 runs but the scoring rate was less than impressive. Zuiderent left the crease as Stanikzai wrapped him on his pads. He scored 19 runs from 29 balls with just 1 boundary to his credit.
The next man to step up was Borren who did not last for too long and was caught by Stanikzai off the bowling of Shenwari for just 3 runs from 8 balls. Cooper was still batting at the other end, hoping that he would find support from Kruger. He did offer some support though with 15 runs from 21 balls before being cleaned up by Shenwari.
Buurman then joined Cooper and the pair added 49 priceless runs for the seventh wicket partnership before Buurman was bowled over by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hamid-Hassan-c1524. He scored 23 runs from 23 balls with 4 boundaries to his credit.
Cooper remained steadfast and managed to complete his hundred in style. He was dismissed on the final ball of the innings as he scored 101 runs from 155 balls.
Netherlands ended their innings at 202 for the loss of 8 wickets. Overall, scores at the ICC World Cricket League Division One tournament have not been high due to the overcast conditions in the country. Afghanistan knew they had to bat well to get to this target.
But once again as has been the pattern of this league, there was an early wicket for the Netherlands as Zadran was caught plum in front by Jonkman for just 3 runs from 12 balls.
And the next wicket followed soon as Noori was caught behind without scoring for Jonkman’s second wicket for the Netherlands in quick succession.
The Afghans desperately needed a partnership and Sadiq and Shahzad provided just that. The pair knew that the required rate was not as high and only if they could hang in there, Afghanistan would be able to get the required runs.
Shahzad was still the more aggressive out of the two as he played his strokes at every given opportunity, while Sadiq was more conservative in his approach.
The partnership ended when Sadiq was caught by Jonkman off the bowling of Cooper after scoring 26 from 69 balls with just 2 fours.
Shahzad was also dismissed when Afghanistan’s total was at 110 runs after scoring 55 runs from 63 balls with 8 fours. Shahzad was caught by Bas Zuiderent off the bowling of Cooper.
With 83 runs needed for Afghanistan and 4 wickets in the tank, a match winning partnership between Mangal and Stanikzai guided Afghanistan home with more than 7 overs to spare.
Mangal was unbeaten at 67 from 53 balls with 10 fours and a six while Stanikzai was not out on 28. However, Cooper from the Netherlands side was named as the man-of-the-match for his brilliant hundred along with his 2 wickets.
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