November 3, 2023
Afghanistan ( 181 for 3 ) beat The Netherlands ( 179 all out ) by 7 wickets
Lucknow
Having lived in the Netherlands, and played cricket for five seasons in the country between 1996-2000, I have taken a close interest in the progress of the national side since leaving the country.
My club in the Netherlands was Ajax, based in Oegstgeest just outside Leiden, and I was fortunate enough to captain them to promotion to the second level of Dutch cricket in 2000 after relegation the season before.
Matches were 55 overs a side, with bowlers restricted to 11 overs each. My role at the top of the order was normally to see off the good opening three bowlers and then get out to allow Lantra Fernando, our ex-Sri Lankan international, to smack the back-up bowlers all around the park.
The first time my future wife came to watch me play, at the lunch interval at Hilversum she phoned home to report that we were 70 for 2 after 32 overs and I was 32 not out. Despite the ridicule from the other end of the line it was actually an important contribution, paving the way for Lantra to tear apart the 4th and 5th bowlers and take us to 220, as we won by less than 10 runs .
I used to bat wearing a cap, but having to face New Zealand International fast bowler Roydon Hayes, I was persuaded to wear a helmet for the first time. Predictably he hit me on the ankle the first ball I faced, but it was missing leg stump so I survived to face more artillery !
I regularly use the line I was captain of Ajax, but it was the cricket side not the football team !
During my time in the Netherlands there were only two grass pitches in the country, at VRA in Amstelveen, and at UD in Deventer. There are now reportedly 7 grass pitches.
Every pre-season Tim de Leede, then captain of the Dutch side, would turn up at one of our friendlies. One of his businesses was selling cricket gear, and as cricket was a minority sport in the Netherlands it was not possible to go to high street sports shop to buy bats, gloves, pads, balls, scorebooks, clothes etc as you would do in England. Accordingly, players would queue up to stock up for the new season. Being able to fly back the UK to get my new bat or trousers etc I never needed to purchase anything from Tim, but had a couple of pleasant conversions with the guy on the boundary as the games continued. His son Bas, is now a key player in the Dutch side.
I watched the Dutch side play one ODI, in 1998 against South Africa at VRA in Amstelveen. In 1994, the Dutch had actually beaten a very strong South African side including Hansie Cronje, Peter and Gary Kirsten, Andrew Hudson, Brian McMillian, Richard Snell and Dave Richardson by 9 wickets. However, there was to be no upset on this day as Gary Kirsten eased himself to 123 not out and Mark Boucher hit a quick fire 50 as South Africa compiled a total of 248 for 6 off 50 overs. Tim de Leede took 3 for 56 from his 10 overs.
In response the Netherlands could only manage 165, and although Lance Klusener and Shaun Pollock played as batsmen, an attack of Elsworthy, Ntini, Hayward, McMillan and Symcox was more than sufficient. Hansie Cronje was effectively a non-playing captain on the day, neither batting or bowling, and spent most of the day wandering around the boundary, signing autographs, posing for pictures and cuddling small children, and coming across as a genuinely nice guy. How soon our impressions were to change !
The Netherlands and Afghanistan have played 9 ODIs, with the Afghans winning 7 times and the Dutch twice. They have also played four 20/20 internationals with two wins each.
The first ODI meeting was in 2009 at Amstelveen. Mohammad Nabi has been in the Afghanistan side since the start of their rise through the Associate ranks to Test status, but he was powerless that day to prevent an 8 run defeat as Ryan Ten Doeschate starred with 58 runs and 4 for 35 with the ball. The Afghans won the second meeting though to tie that series at 1-1.
The other victory for the Netherlands came in 2012 in Sharjah when they won by 9 wickets, thanks to 83 not out from Alexei Kervezee and despite 41 from Nabi.
The two sides meet three times in 2022 in Doha as part of the World Cup Super League. Afghanistan batted first on all three occasions and won by margins of 36, 48 and 75 runs. The matches were notable for Rahmanullah Gurbaz hitting an unbeaten 103, and Dutch captain Scott Edwards making half-centuries in all three matches. From the sides that played in the last match between the two sides, 8 are in the Afghanistan squad of the World Cup but only 5 are in the Dutch squad.
Both sides went into today’s match with remote hopes of still reaching the World Cup semi-finals, but perhaps more importantly finishing in the top 8 to secure a place in 2025 Champions Trophy.
As the only Associate nation in the World Cup, the Dutch had surprised many by already chalking up two victories over Test nations, inflicting what was still the only defeat over South Africa, and beating Bangladesh.
The basis of both victories was scrambling to a build a defendable total after top order failures and then disciplined bowling and outstanding ground fielding applying pressure and forcing errors from the South African and Bangladesh batsmen, with Paul van Meekeren, Aryan Dutt, Logan van Beek, Bas de Leede and Colin Ackerman all performing admirably with the ball.
Despite the off-field politics, Afghanistan had also proven their right on the field to be at the World Cup with three wins out of six, beating three former winners of the World Cup in England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Indeed, the run chases against Pakistan and Sri Lanka showed remarkable maturity on how to pace an innings to chase down a large total, whilst the win over the England showed their ability to maintain pressure when bowling second. All of this had been achieved with star bowler Rashid Khan still to make much of an impression.
Despite the Afghan’s success in chasing, history would suggest that the Netherlands best chances of success would be to bat first, and indeed they won the toss and elected to bat.
The Netherlands made two changes to the side that beat Bangladesh with Roelof van der Merwe and Saqib Zulfiqar replacing Shariz Ahmed and Vikramjit Singh. Afghanistan replaced Naveen ul-Haq with Noor Ahmad to revert to the four spinner attack that was successful against Pakistan
Afghanistan opened the bowling as the have often done with off-spinner Mujeeb, who struck in the first over as Wesley Barresi played all around a ball angling in to be plumb LBW. Barresi didn’t even review the decision and departed for 1 with the score 3 for 1.
O’Dowd greeted Farooqi by hitting straight down the ground for the first boundary of the day and Ackerman repeated the feat in the 4th over as the scored moved to 17 for 1.
O’Dowd then attempted a sharp single to Rashid Khan at mid-off and despite diving for the crease, O’Dowd would have been out had the throw been a direct hit. Fortunately for O’Dowd it missed and Rashid appeared to have hurt himself in the process of throwing and gingerly left the field. Ackerman produced an unusual shot next ball slapping cross-batted through the covers to the boundary then later in the over O’Dowd’s leg glance beat the fielder at short fine leg to race away for four as the score moved to 28 for 1 off 5 overs
The runs were starting to flow as O’Dowd twice drove Naveen past point to make it 36 for 1 off 6 overs.
Mujeeb again strayed down the leg-side for Ackerman to produce a leg glance for four then Naveen found the edge of O’Dowd’s bat but the ball sped away to the boundary. O’Dowd produced a more authentic shot for another boundary through point, and in the next over played an exquisite drive between mid-off and extra cover for four more as the score moved to 57 for 1 off 9 overs.
Naveen bowled short and wide and O’Dowd slashed high over where slip would have been for his 8th boundary then an attempted bouncer was helped on its way over short fine leg for four more. At the end of the first powerplay the Dutch had moved to 66 for 1 with O’Dowd on 40 and Ackerman on 18.
Rashid Khan returned to the field as the Afghans gathered together for a much needed team-talk. Azmatullah replaced Mujeeb as the first bowling change but Ackerman produced a lovely straight drive first ball for four more. However, with his fourth ball, Azmatullah found the right line and length and beat O’Dowd’s defensive prod for just about the first false shot since the first over.
Nabi replaced Naveen and O’Dowd went way across his stumps to paddle sweep for what should have been two runs, but Azmatullah’s direct hit left the diving O’Dowd an inch short as he returned for the second run. O’Dowd had to go for 42 as the score became 74 for 2 after 12 overs.
Azmat struck Engelbrecht on the pad but he looked to be well outside off stump. However, the Afghans decided to review, and it didn’t take long to show it was a wasted review, but only 3 runs came off a tidy over. Nabi’s next over went for only two runs as the brakes were starting to be applied to the Dutch innings. Azmat continued to find a good length as only three singles came from his next over.
Rashid came on in the 15th over and the Dutch batsmen watchfully took three singles to take the score to 84 for 2 from 15 overs.
Nabi then changed ends, replacing Azmat after 3 overs for 11, and Engelbrecht greeted him by coming down the track and hitting a straight drive for 4, but these were the only runs from the over.
With the runs drying up, Engelbrecht attempted a risky single to Rashid at mid-off but team-mate Ackerman was so far short of his ground as the wicket-keeper took off the bails that the umpire didn’t even need to check the big screen. Ackerman was out for 29 runs.
It got worse for the Dutch as Edwards attempted to sweep his first ball but the ball popped up to the wicket-keeper who took off the bails with Edwards well out of his ground. It was now 92 for 4 and the Netherlands’ top scorer in the tournament so far had gone for a first ball duck. Interestingly, Edwards dismissal was recorded as a run out rather than a stumping, the third of the innings.
De Leede and Engelbrecht now had to steady the ship and rebuild the innings but de Leede snicked a regulation off-spinner from Nabi to be caught by keeper Ikram as the score subsided to 97 for 5. De Leede had scored only 3 runs.
Zulfiqar immediately showed signs of nerves, wanting to take a single where there wasn’t one, and was rightly sent back, and Nabi completed a wicket maiden.
Engelbrecht temporarily broke the shackles by sweeping Nabi for a boundary and with the score 108 for 5 off 23 overs 19 year old Noor Ahmed was introduced into the attack to bowl his left arm Chinamen. His third ball was a full toss that struck Engelbrecht as he attempted to sweep. It looked to be well down the leg side and the wicket-keeper was moving down that side but Afghanistan decided to review. Again, it was another wasted review but the Afghan skipper cheekily suggested it was a googly. As the ball never pitched we would never know, and if it was going to pitch it would have been outside leg stump anyway ! Afghanistan had blown both of their reviews.
With two slips in place for Noor, Zulfiqar played an awful shot to a wide ball, only getting the toe of the bat to the ball whilst attempting to play a cut, and Ikram smartly snapped up the catch. Zulfiqar had made 3 from 15 balls and it was now 113 for 6 in the 26th over. The Dutch had lost 4 wickets for 21 runs in 7 overs.
Engelbrecht did find the boundary of Noor but it was an edge that went past Nabi’s left hand, and next ball a wild slash outside off stump again flew towards Nabi, who managed to get a hand to it, but the batsmen scampered a single. By the end of the 30th over the score had limped to 129 for 6 but Engelbrecht was still there 37 not out. The usual rule of thumb is to double the score after 30 over to get the anticipated total after 50 overs, but it looked a hard task for the Dutch to get to 200 let alone 258…
Nabi replaced Rashid and Engelbrecht used his feet to play a lovely drive through extra cover for a rare boundary but when Logan van Beek attempted to do the same he missed and was stumped by yards. 134 for 7.
Engelbrecht was still fighting though, and consecutive boundaries off Noor took him to his fifty. However, more suicidal running saw van der Merwe set-off for a non-existent single to mid-wicket and after both batsmen hesitated, this time it was Engelbrecht who was run-out after making 58. He became the fourth of the top 5 to be run out and it was now 152 for 8 in the 34th over.
Van der Merwe then played all around a Rashid googly and the umpire raised his finger for LBW. Roelof immediately reviewed and was reprieved with big screen showing the ball was missing the leg stump.
Mujeeb appeared to have Dutt LBW but the umpire Menon gave not out and Afghanistan were made to pay for squandering their reviews earlier in the innings as the replay showed it should it was out !
Rashid completed his 10 overs to finish with figures of 0 for 31 as the Dutch had made it to 167 for 8 off 40 overs.
Van der Merwe finally lost his patience after prodding around but his wild slog went up in the air and Ibrahim clung onto the skyer to give Noor his first wicket.
Dutt and van Meekeren attempted to play out the remaining overs, until Van Meekeren was adjudged to be LBW by umpire Menon whilst playing a sweep agoanst Nabi. Van Meekeren immediately reviewed, indicating he had hit it, but Ultra Edge disagreed so the Dutch were bowled out for 179 in 46.3 overs. Dutt remained 10 not out, Nabi had 3 for 28 of 9.3 overs and Noor Ahmed had 2 for 31 from 9 overs. The total looked well short of a par score 240-250 and the Netherlands would almost certainly have to bowl out Afghanistan if they were to win.
As usual, off-spinner Dutt opened the bowling for the Netherlands, but Gurbaz crashed the last ball of the over past point for a boundary as 9 came off the first over. Van Beek found the edge of Ibrahim’s bat but the ball sped towards third man and the batsmen returned for two runs.
Ibrahim turned a ball from Dutt off his legs and quickly ran two but was beaten by an off-break that turned and hit the front pad, but the contact looked to be outside the off-stump and captain Edwards wisely chose not to review.
Gurbaz then clipped a half-volley high to the square leg boundary for four and at the end of the 4th over it was 22 for 0.
Ibrahim had been watchful but then decided to dance down the wicket to hit Dutt all along the ground to the long-off boundary. Van Beek bowled a wide down the leg side to Gurbaz but Edwards immediately appealed and signalled for the review when a wide was signalled. Ultra Edge showed there had been a glove as Gurbaz attempted to pull, and the Dutch had their first wicket. Gurbaz had to trudged off with 10 runs to his name with the score 27 for 1 in the 6th over.
A steady over from Dutt yielded just 2 runs as the Dutch tried to apply some pressure and after 4 dot balls from Van Beek, Rahmat Shah effortlessly drove down the ground for a much needed boundary. It was 35 for 1 after 8 overs.
Dutt decided to go around the wicket, and Ibrahim took advantage of the angle to squeeze a drive behind point for a boundary. Rahmat played and missed at the last ball of the over, but 7 runs had come off it.
Van Meekeren replaced Van Beek and his first ball was short, and pulled by Ibrahim to deep square leg for a single. The second ball was much better, finding the inside edge, just missed the stumps and ran away to the fine leg boundary. Rahmat though was in control of a drive behind point for another boundary and followed it up with another boundary through the covers although the diving de Leede at short extra cover probably should have made the save. It was 55 for 1 at the end of the first powerplay.
Van der Merwe was introduced to bowl his first over of left arm spin and struck first ball. Ibrahim played a loose shot to a nothing ball outside the off-stump and chopped the ball onto the stumps. 55 for 2 !
Van Meekeren then struck the left-handed Hashmutullah on the pad and appealed enthusiastically for LBW. It appeared to pitch well outside the leg stump and Edwards calmly decided to not go for the review. To make matters worse it was a no-ball and free-hit. Van Meekeren’s slow-ball bouncer was given as a wide and the follow-up was wide of the off stump, which Hashmatullah could only mishit back to the bowler. However, the Afghanistan captain made amends next ball, pulling a shortish ball to the square leg boundary.
Five singles were milked off van der Merwe’s second over to take the score to 71 for 2 off 13 overs but only two came from van Meekeren’s next over. Rahmat then swept a full toss from van der Merwe behind square for 4 as the score move to 80 for 2 off 15 overs. At the same point in their innings the Netherlands were 84 for 2.
After a three over burst van Meekeren was replaced by Dutt and Hashmatullah immediately showed intent by charging down the wicket but could only mis-hit to mid-on. After a single, Rahmat then reverse swept for four.
The Afghanistan batsmen was taking few risks, content to push the singles and wait for the bad balls as the score progressed to 95 for 2 off 18 overs. A cut from Rahmat off van der Merwe was in the air but away from the fielder and raced across the outfield for a streaky boundary.
Needing a wicket, Van Beek was brought back to bowl the 20th over but the ones and twos continued as the pair brought up their 50 partnership, after which Rahmat drove down the ground for another boundary and to bring up his 50. At the end of the 20th over it was now 109 for 2 and looking grim for the Dutch.
Possibly in desperation leg spinner Zulfiqar was brought on ahead of de Leede, their highest wicket taker in the competition, and Ackerman, their most economical, but he bowled a huge no ball but the ball had left his hand before his foot had landed, leading to an interesting discussion of the law by the commentators without coming to any conclusion.
The free-hit was smacked over the bowler’s head for four. Zulfiqar then found the edge of Hashmatullah’s bat but the ball went through the vacant slip area for another boundary. Thirteen runs had came from the over and Afghanistan were now cruising at 122 for 2 after 21 overs, requiring just another 58 runs.
The freebies from Zulfiqar continued as a low full toss was clubbed to the extra cover boundary by Hashmatullah but then unexpectedly Rahmat chipped a return catch to give Zulfiqar a wicket. Rahmat had made an excellent 52 in 54 balls as the score became 129 for 3.
Zulfiqar was given a third over, and a long hop was despatched through the covers by Azmatullah for his first boundary, and at the end of the 25th over it was now 142 for 3 and only another 38 runs needed.
Van Meekeren was brought back for another burst and although he only conceded four runs he failed to make the breakthrough. Zulfiqar was given a rest after three overs for 25 runs, and Ackerman belatedly entered the attack with his off-spin. He went past the outside edge of Azmatullah’s bat and conceded only three runs.
Van Meekeren went around the wicket to Azmatullah but his slower ball was driven down the ground for four, then Hashmatullah lifted the medium pacer over mid-on for another boundary. Just twenty more were needed after the 28th over and Ackerman’s next over again went for just three runs.
Van Meekeren was given a break and Dutt returned to beat Azmatullah past the outside edge and Edwards took off the bails, but after an umpire’s review the batsman’s foot had not left the ground. A full toss was then lifted over extra for four more as 7 came off the over.
Hashmatullah pushed Ackerman off his legs to deep mid-wicket to bring up his 50 off 59 deliveries and at the end of the 31st over only four more were needed. Hashmutullah smashed Butt over mid-wicket for the winning runs to seal the victory by 7 wickets and to finish unbeaten on 56. Azmatullah was still there on 31.
After this highly impressive performance where they again showed their confidence in chasing a target, and some excellent throwing under pressure, Afghanistan moved level with Australia and New Zealand on 8 points with 4 wins out of 7. However, they will almost certainly need to beat one of Australia or South Africa to qualify for the semi-finals. They could also get through with two defeats but they would require New Zealand to lose both their games, Pakistan to only beat New Zealand and then hope that their net run rate is the best between those three sides.
In their battle for 8th place and qualification for the Champions Trophy, the match between Netherlands and England could become a winner takes all game !
Highlights : https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/cricket/67313740
No comments:
Post a Comment