ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

NETHERLANDS v IRELAND Commitments to the English counties and injuries meant that Ireland were without four of their best players and The Netherlands, three. The match was therefore a good test of the relative strengths of the two countries in their playing depth. Conditions were chill and damp, with nearly 8 mm of rain having fallen on the previous day and the sky full of thick dark cloud. Remarkably, play began on time. The Dutch chose to field and after 45 minutes’ play had taken three wickets for 25 runs, all to Mudassar Bukhari who alternated well-directed short-pitched balls with fast ones of fuller pitch. The other Dutch bowlers were less effective, however, and as Bukhari tired, Andre Botha and Kevin O’Brien settled in, striking any loose balls, and there were many, to the boundary. At lunch, Ireland were 108 for three and after the interval the stand increased to 159 and the total to 184 when rain caused the umpires to suspend play. Before the players could leave the field, the rain stopped and play resumed. Four balls later, O’Brien hit a full toss to mid on where Maurits Jonkman held a fine low catch. Perhaps the break in play had caused a lapse of concentration because Botha edged a ball in the air between the wicketkeeper and first slip and, a few balls later, swept Pieter Seelaar straight to Tom de Grooth at short leg who ducked, only to find that the ball had lobbed up and fallen next to him. Before he reached his century, Botha was also dropped at first slip. However, both he and Andrew Poynter survived until 3.20 pm when the rain came in earnest. An early tea was taken but at 5.15 pm play was abandoned for the day. Play was scheduled to start at 10.30 am on day two and continue until 7.00 pm to make up for lost time, but rain was still falling and continued for most of the day. By the time it stopped, over 14 mm had been received. After remarkable efforts by the ground staff, however, play was able to resume at 5.50 pm with 19 overs to be bowled. These allowed Ireland to increase their score to 296 for four thanks to an undefeated partnership of 112. The Dutch bowled some good balls but overall the attack was inconsistent in line and length; they failed to put the Irish batsmen under pressure and gave them too many easy balls to hit. The third day was still overcast but it was the warmest of the four days as the temperature finally struggled to reach 20° C. Botha and Poynter continued without trouble until the new ball was taken after 80 overs. Botha then edged Bukhari to Nick Statham at first slip but it went past him. Three balls later, he edged again, this time to Jeroen Smits, who held the chance, ending Botha’s innings after a stay of four and a half hours. His 172 came at a strike rate of 81.1 and included 28 fours. Poynter and Gary Wilson maintained the run rate, the latter falling to a fine catch by Geert-Maarten Mol running back to mid wicket, with the ball coming over his shoulder, and diving forward to hold the ball two-handed close to the ground. Kyle McCallan helped Poynter raise the score to 400 at which point he declared, giving the Dutch fifty minutes’ batting before lunch. The Irish bowlers were much more aggressive and accurate than their counterparts and, by the ninth over, three wickets were down for only 13 runs, even though Statham had been dropped by Poynter at third slip, diving in front of O’Brien at second slip who might have taken the catch easily. After lunch, Poynter dropped Daan van Bunge but, again, the miss was not expensive, as the Dutch struggled to come to terms with conditions. Wilson held two superb catches behind the stumps, the first, one-handed and low to his right to remove van Bunge, and the second, high and two-handed in the air to dismiss Eric Szwarczynski. Poynter made amends and took the chance offered by Peter Borren. Wickets fell regularly to both pace and spin and were it not for a last-wicket stand of 38 by Smits and Seelaar, the Dutch total would not have passed 100. The number 11 made the highest score of the innings, aided by another drop by Poynter at slip, whilst Smits batted over an hour for his 10 runs. The partnership was interrupted by rain which lasted 45 minutes during which tea was taken. Asked to follow on, the Dutch lost De Grooth in the seventh over, having managed 8 runs, and Mol, three overs later, having batted 36 minutes without scoring and been barely able to get bat on ball. Another wicket went down before the close, leaving the home side 224 runs in arrears with seven wickets left. Rain was the only likely saviour of the Dutch but the heavy rain that did fall overnight was not enough to prevent play starting on time on the last day. Poor shot selection soon accounted for van Bunge and Szwarczynski but the Dutch middle order showed some fight. Borren and Bukhari both scored half-centuries and were helped in partnerships by Jonkman and Smits respectively. Just before 2.30 pm, with the score on 206 for seven, the end came in dramatic fashion as Peter Connell, with the new ball, beat Smits, Seelar and Edgar Schiferli for pace with consecutive deliveries. The hat-trick gave Connell a match return of ten for 69, but it was not enough to win the Man-of-the-Match award which went to Andre Botha who scored 24% of all the runs made in the match. 154 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08