Botha stars with bat and ball as defending champion looks to claim maximum points
Ireland is firmly in the driving seat heading into the final day of the ICC Intercontinental Cup match against the Netherlands in Rotterdam having forced the home team to f
ollow on chasing a first innings total of 400-6 declared.The Netherlands is still 224 runs behind with just seven wickets remaining in its second innings and Ireland is sensing that an innings victory could be on the cards.
The star for the defending champion so far has been Andre Botha. Ireland ’s Mr Dependable with both bat and ball has been living up to his name, having scored 172 runs and taken three wickets in the match so far.
Kevin O’Brien (79) and Andrew Poynter (76 not out) also excelled with the bat as Ireland eventually closed its rain-interrupted first innings on 400-6 declared. With time being of the essence, the Irish bowlers wasted none of it getting into the swing of things, dismissing the Dutch for just 127 and enforcing the follow-on.
Young left-arm pace bowler Peter Connell was the pick of Ireland ’s bowlers, taking a first-class career-best of 4-41 with none of the Netherlands ’ batsmen able to resist the consistent line and length of the Irish attack.
Then, before the close, the Netherlands slumped to 49-3 with Botha picking up two wickets late in the day. Unless the Dutch middle order can fashion a Lazarus-style recovery or unless the fickle Rotterdam weather comes to the home team’s rescue, it looks like Ireland (seeking to win the ICC Intercontinental Cup for the third time in a row) will claim maximum points.
ICC Intercontinental Cup (day three)
At: Rotterdam
Toss: Netherlands
Umpires: Paul Baldwin and Steve Davis
IRELAND (first innings contd)
R Strydom c Borren b Bukhari 1
P Stirling c Smits b Bukhari 11
A Cusack lbw b Bukhari 8
A Botha c Smits b Bukhari 172
K O’Brien c Jonkman b Seelaar 79
A Poynter not out 76
G Wilson c Mol b Jonkman 27
K McCallan not out 12
Extras (b 6, lb 6, w 2) 14
TOTAL (for 6 dec, 99 overs) 400
Fall: 7, 20, 25, 184, 323, 367
To Bat: +G Wilson , *K McCallan, T Fourie, G Kidd, P Connell
Bowling: Schiferli 25-4-93-0, Bukhari 22-6-85-4, Mol 11-3-32-0, Seelaar 12-3-61-1, Borren 20-1-76-0, Jonkman 9-0-41-1
NETHERLANDS (first innings)
T de Grooth b Fourie 7
G Mol lbw Connell 0
N Statham c Kidd b Connell 4
D van Bunge c Wilson b Connell 12
E Szwarczynski c Wilson b Connell 9
P Borren c Poynter b Cusack 13
M Jonkman lbw McCallan 13
Mudassar Bukhari lbw McCallan 23
*+J Smits not out 10
E Schiferli c and b Kidd 3
P Seelaar c Wilson b Botha 27
Extras (b 4, lb 2) 6
TOTAL (all out, 53.4 overs) 127
Fall: 3, 11, 13, 32, 37, 49, 71, 84, 89
Bowling: Connell 17-4-41-4, Fourie 11-3-25-1, Cusack 7-2-16-1, Kidd 7-2-20-1, McCallan 7-3-11-2, Botha 4.4-2-8-1
NETHERLANDS (second innings)
T de Grooth b Connell 8
G Mol c McCallan b Botha 0
N Statham c Fourie b Botha 6
D van Bunge not out 21
E Szwarczynski not out 9
Extras (w 5) 5
TOTAL (for 3, 24 overs) 49
Fall: 13, 13, 23
Bowling: Connell 7-3-12-1, Fourie 7-1-21-0, Botha 5-2-14-2, Cusack 2-0-2-0, McCallan 2-2-0-0, Strydom 1-1-0-0
(Information provided by CricketEurope)
The ICC Intercontinental Cup has quickly grown in stature and profile since its inception three years ago and now the ICC’s premier first-class tournament is an integral part of the Associate Members’ cricket schedule.
Having previously been designed around a two-group, three-day format, the event has evolved into an eight-team, round-robin and truly global tournament featuring four-day cricket which gives those teams who do not play Test cricket the chance to experience the longer form of the game.
Scotland won the first ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2004, beating Canada in the final, while Ireland has been victorious in both events since then, beating Kenya in the 2005 decider and Canada in the 2006-07 event.
The final of the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2007-08 will take place in November 2008 at a venue yet to be confirmed.
ICC MEDIA RELEASE