ICC Intercontinental Cup and Shield

of an abandonment but three points were now awarded to each side in a match where less than ten hours were lost to the weather; previously the requirement was less than eight hours lost and no points were awarded. Where more than ten hours were lost to the weather both sides were now to receive seven points, whereas previously only three points were awarded for the loss of eight or more hours. Afghanistan were convincing winners, being unbeaten in the league stage and despatching Scotland in the final within three of the five scheduled days; only early on the second day was the match closely contested. Zimbabwe were also unbeaten and should have played the final but offered Scotland a walk-over, enabling the latter to finish above them in the league. Scotland lost only one league match, that against Afghanistan at Ayr during which the Afghans showed that they could adapt equally as well to north European conditions as to those of their appointed “home” ground in Sharjah. Although they lost only once, again to Afghanistan, Ireland disappointed. They should have beaten Kenya in a rain-affected match at Eglinton but were unable to secure the last two Kenyan wickets. They should also have beaten Scotland in Aberdeen but were thwarted by the weather after having allowed Scotland to obtain the points for a first-innings lead. Their chances of progressing to the final ended when they were unable to prevent Zimbabwe leading on the first innings on a pitch favourable to batting at Harare. Kenya, The Netherlands and Canada were too inconsistent and occupied the bottom three places. Neither The Netherlands nor Canada secured a win, both countries frequently having to field weakened sides because of the unavailability of players. There were fourteen totals of 400 or more, five being made by Afghanistan and four by Ireland. The highest was 590 by the Zimbabwe XI against Ireland. Despite their overall poor performance, Canada obtained the second-highest total, 566, against Afghanistan but then contrived to lose the match. There were only two totals below 100, the lowest being the 82 made by Scotland against Afghanistan in the final. The other was 91 by Kenya against Scotland. As in the previous tournament, 33 centuries were scored but there was no outstanding batsman as no one made more than two. There were three double-hundreds, the highest being 214 not out by Mohammad Shahzad of Afghanistan; the others were 212 not out by Ryan ten Doeschate (The Netherlands) and 209 by Vusi Sibanda (Zimbabwe). Mohammad Shahzad had the highest aggregate for the tournament with 802 runs, as well as the highest average of the leading batsmen, 80.20. Bowlers were less successful this time compared with the 2007-08 tournament, with five or more wickets in an innings being recorded 24 times, down by seven. The outstanding bowler was Hamid Hassan (Afghanistan) who achieved this feat five times. The next best was twice by Shingi Masakadza (Zimbabwe). No other bowler did it more than once. Hamid Hassan took the most wickets, 43, at an average of 19.18; he also took eleven wickets in the match on two occasions. The next best bowlers in terms of aggregate were Majid Haq (Scotland) with 24 wickets and Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan) with 22. The best individual bowling performance came from Regan West (Ireland) with seven for 88 against Scotland. There were six other performances of six wickets in an innings, two by Hamid Hassan. There was little difference in quality between the Zimbabwe XI and Afghanistan who were clearly the top teams in the competition. Zimbabwe scored more runs per wicket (42.46) than any other team. They were undoubtedly aided by the batting-friendly conditions of their home grounds and by their decision not to contest the final which turned out to be a low-scoring affair. The latter certainly reduced Afghanistan’s runs per wicket but, at 36.78, it was still the second-highest. Ireland and Kenya both averaged over 33 runs per wicket but their bowlers were less successful than in 2007-08. Ireland conceded 29.34 runs per wicket gained, up from 20.98, whilst Kenya conceded 34.89, the highest of the seven countries and up from 25.54. Scotland’s strength was their bowling, conceding only 25.18 runs per wicket, the best of the seven countries, but their batsmen averaged only 22.30 runs per wicket, the worst of the seven. Neither Canada nor The Netherlands scored sufficient runs per wicket, averaging in the mid 20s, and both conceded too many runs per wicket taken, averaging in the mid 30s. 176 ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10