ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

NETHERLANDS v KENYA The Netherlands were forced to select a weak side with Jeroen Smits, Ryan ten Doeschate, Bas Zuiderent, Alexei Kervezee, Mudassar Bukhari and Daan van Bunge all unavailable and Maurits Jonkman injured. Even so, it was disappointing that they did not perform better since this result indicates a considerable lack of depth in the quality of the players emerging from their domestic system. Perhaps aware of the problems faced by the Dutch selectors, Steve Tikolo had no hesitation in fielding first after winning the toss and Thomas Odoyo and Peter Ongondo soon proved too much of a handful for the home batsmen, who were particularly vulnerable to the short-pitched ball. Tom de Grooth gave a simple catch to second slip, Rifaiz Bakas failed to play a shot to a ball that came back, Eric Szwarczynski edged the ball to the wicketkeeper and The Netherlands were 7 for three within six overs. Survival became the priority but unfortunately this did not contribute many runs. By lunch time, three more wickets had been lost, only one boundary had been scored in the morning session and the Dutch were 49 for six. After the interval, Nick Statham and Edgar Schiferli adopted a more positive approach before Statham mistimed a ball from the left-arm spinner, Hiren Varaiya, and offered an easy catch to mid on; he had batted for two hours and seven minutes for 29, at a strike rate of 30.5. After Schiferli was bowled by Odoyo, attempting a drive, Mohammad Kashif struck four boundaries before the innings ended in the 44th over for only 126 runs. Kenya lost one wicket in the eleven overs before tea when they were comfortably placed at 42 for one. In the evening session, Kenya’s batsmen were forced to work hard for their runs as Pieter Seelaar bowled a spell of twelve overs for 33, capturing two wickets. Atse Buurman gave a fine performance behind the stumps with three very smart catches, the one down the leg side off the left-arm spin of Kashif to dismiss Jimmy Kamande being particularly fine. Although Alex Obanda and Steve Tikolo got out just as they were looking set, the Dutch were unable to dismiss Maurice Ouma whose half-century off 84 balls with six fours gave Kenya a 52-run lead at the close. The Dutch took the remaining four Kenyan wickets in the morning session and continued to make their opponents fight for runs. Without an excellent display from Ouma, Kenya’s lead would have been very slender, since none of the tail reached double figures. Ouma not only showed a wide range of strokes but managed to retain much of the strike before eventually becoming the last wicket to fall, caught at backward point by Statham off a leading edge. He batted for three hours and seventeen minutes and, under the circumstances, scored his runs at a good strike rate of 57.5, including ten fours and six sixes. Seelaar again bowled well, his dismissal of Ouma giving him a return of five for 57 from 23 overs. Peter Borren gave good support, collecting three wickets; he might have had a fourth if Buurman had not dropped Alfred Luseno, but the wicketkeeper’s sole mistake of the match did not prove costly since Seelaar claimed him leg-before when he missed the ball completely, trying an ambitious cross-batted shot to the leg side. The Netherlands survived the two overs remaining before lunch and afterwards looked to be making a positive start with Bakas reaching the boundary twice. But a series of poor cut shots by Bakas, Statham and Szwarczynski, after de Grooth had fallen to Odoyo, led to four wickets falling in seven overs. As in the first innings, Ongondo did the damage. Buurman and Lesley Stokkers put on 68 for the sixth wicket, the highest partnership of the match. Buurman’s 41 was also the second-highest individual score of the match. When he fell and Stokkers was dismissed soon afterwards, the Dutch innings crumbled before the pace of Ongondo and the spin of Varaiya; it had lasted one ball fewer than their first innings and produced five fewer runs. Kenya came out easy winners by an innings in two days. Maurice Ouma was the Man of the Match for his batting which was in a class well above that of the other twenty-one players. 164 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08