ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

NETHERLANDS v BERMUDA Following retirements and concerns by the selectors about the commitment of certain players to serious as opposed to recreational cricket, Bermuda had five first-class debutants in what was clearly a weak side. Asked to bat first, they had little idea of how to cope with a moving ball off the seam as Mudassar Bukhari induced a loose shot from Stephen Outerbridge to the wicketkeeper and Edgar Schiferli bowled an opening spell of six overs for six runs and the wicket of Jekon Edness. Three more wickets fell before lunch, taken at 86 for five. Only Irving Romaine combined the ability to survive and score runs. In contrast, Roderick Masters managed just two runs in nearly an hour at the crease during which he faced 62 balls. After Mangesh Panchal sent back Dwayne Leverock, Arthur Pitcher and George O’Brien, the last two in three balls, Bermuda were 135 for nine with Romaine on 60. The Bermudan captain decided this was the time to attack, taking 17 off one over from Adeel Raja, including two sixes and a four, and three successive fours off Mark Jonkman, to take him to 99, before reaching his century with a single. Panchal then ended Ryan Steede’s resistance to gain his first first-class return of five wickets in an innings. Romaine was left undefeated having made 56% of his side’s total. The Dutch openers made steady progress in reply against some erratic bowling and by the close were only 31 runs behind on the first innings without loss. Only three runs were added on the second morning before Alexei Kervezee mistimed a short-pitched delivery from O’Brien into the hands of Dwight Basden, who held an excellent running catch at mid wicket. O’Brien was the most impressive of the bowlers, getting the ball to lift off a good length and generally maintaining a consistent line. When he trapped Bas Zuiderent leg-before, he had almost bowled Bermuda back into the match but, once he had to be rested, Peter Borren helped Tom de Grooth add 54 runs for the third wicket. After staying for just over an hour, Borren missed a straight ball from Leverock just before lunch, when the score was 242 for three. Wickets fell regularly during the afternoon. Mol was run out by a direct hit from Ryan Steede at mid on and O’Brien returned to remove Bukhari and Raja. Without the security of a partner, de Grooth, once he had passed his century, went into defensive mode, taking a further 116 balls to reach 150. The cricket became increasingly dull as he and Smits, a player with few attacking strokes, put on 70 runs. De Grooth seemed to lose energy as the double-century approached and it was a tired shot to backward point off Outerbridge, the seventh bowler used by Bermuda, which ended his effort four runs short. He batted over six and a half hours for his 196, made at a strike rate of 65.5. Schiferli and Jonkman made useful additions to take the score to 410, a lead of 227. O’Brien picked up five wickets in four spells of bowling and was well supported by the left-arm spin of Leverock. Bermuda were left with 16 overs to bat before the close of play and after nine of these were 19 for three. Outerbridge was out first ball of the innings, Edness offered a simple caught and bowled and Basden fell to a spectacular, low, one-handed catch to the left by Borren at second slip. James Celestine and Masters then survived the remaining seven overs, despite repeated and confident appeals to the umpires by the Dutch. Needing to bat all day and into the fourth day to stand any chance of saving the match, Bermuda adopted a carefree approach more appropriate to a one-day game. Perhaps they were surprised to be playing at all after heavy overnight rain but to the credit of the Dutch ground staff, the ground was ready for play at the scheduled start. In the third over of the day, Celestine was needlessly run out, backing up so far that he could have touched his partner before being sent back by him. Romaine clearly had little confidence that anyone would stay with him and simply enjoyed himself, striking boundaries all round the ground but, after reaching 23 off 15 balls, he edged an outswinger to the wicketkeeper. Not until Lionel Cann and Leverock came together at 82 for six was any serious resistance offered. Cann showed surprising restraint as he and Leverock punished the bad balls in a partnership of 42 runs. There was an unfortunate exchange of words between Cann and Schiferli in the 29th over which held up play for several minutes before the umpires and the Dutch captain persuaded the two to shake hands. The return of the leg spin of Panchal, however, was too tempting and Cann swept him high into the air but straight into the hands of Kervezee. Leverock received some support from Arthur Pitcher and none from O’Brien and had reached only 35 when joined by the No. 11, Ryan Steede. As in the first innings, however, Steede batted for nearly half an hour giving Leverock time to go to a second half-century in consecutive first-class matches before he became the last person out, top-edging Raja high into the air. After slightly less than three hours’ play on the third day, the Dutch were victors by an innings, a very different display from their innings defeat in their previous match. 126 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08