Ireland completes innings victory over the Netherlands to move up to second in table
A 10-wicket haul and a hat-trick from debutant Peter Connell to follow up on an imperious 172 from veteran Andre Botha earlier in the game made sure Ireland claimed all 20 points on offer on the last day of its ICC Intercontinental Cup match against the Netherlands at Rot
terdam .Connell became only the 16th bowler in first-class history to take a hat-trick on debut when he blitzed through the Netherlands tail to wrap up the match. The 26-year-old medium-pacer is the first player to do it in an international match with all the others coming in county, state or provincial games.
Having taken four in the first innings, Connell then really got into his stride second time around, removing six Netherlands batsmen to finish with the impressive match figures of 35-14-69-10.
Only Peter Borren (53) and Mudassar Bukhari (59 not out) put up any resistance for the Netherlands on the final day as the home side struggled in vain to save the match. In the end, the home side managed just 206 all out, falling 67 runs short of making Ireland bat for a second time.
The first time around, man of the match Andre Botha was the star hitting 172 out of his side’s total of 400-6 declared.
With Ireland claiming maximum points, this victory moves it up one spot to second place, leap-frogging Kenya in the process. It now lies just 13 points adrift of leader Namibia but with one game in hand.
The Netherlands now sits in fourth position but with little or no chance of making the final having played more games than all those teams ahead of it. It looks like it’s down to a three-horse race with Namibia , Ireland and Kenya left to fight it out for places in the final.
Defending champion Ireland is looking for its third victory in a row in this competition and judging by today’s performance, its players are no strangers to hat-tricks.
Final scorecard
ICC Intercontinental Cup
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 c Connell b Fourie 25
E Szwarczynski c and b Connell 10
P Borren c O’Brien b Connell 53
M Jonkman c Stirling b McCallan 17
Mudassar Bukhari not out 59
*+J Smits b Connell 12
P Seelaar b Connell 0
E Schiferli lbw Connell 0
Extras (b 4, lb 7, w 5) 16
TOTAL (all out, 81 overs) 206
Fall: 13, 13, 23, 54, 54, 105, 158, 206, 206
Bowling: Connell 18-10-28-6, Fourie 15-3-46-1, Botha 11-2-33-2, Cusack 7-0-15-0, McCallan 19-4-28-1, Strydom 1-1-0-0, Kidd 9-2-43-0, Poynter 1-0-2-0
Ireland (20 points) beat the Netherland (0 points) by an innings and 67 runs
Man of the match: Andre Botha
(Information provided by CricketEurope)
ICC Intercontinental Cup table (as of 12 July)
Team P W L D Pts
Namibia 5 5 0 0 82
Ireland 4 3 0 1 69
Kenya 4 3 1 0 66
Netherlands 6 3 3 0 48
Scotland 4 1 1 2 32
UAE 7 1 5 1 29
Canada 5 1 4 0 26
Bermuda 5 1 4 0 26
Six points for first innings lead
14 points for a win (so, maximum of 20 points per match)
Three points for a draw
Top two sides qualify for the final at a venue to be confirmed
Note: the match between Bermuda and Scotland at the National Stadium, Bermuda , is ongoing
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