The Hindu : Sport : Pakistan `A' registers easy win against Holland

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Sport

Sport

Pakistan `A' registers easy win against Holland

Vijay Lokapally

Learning time for Holland

— Photo: PTI

TIMBER! Eric Szwarczynksi is castled by Yasir Arafat. The Pakistani paceman scalped four wickets.

ABU DHABI: Holland predictably lost the match to Pakistan `A' but emerged wiser from the experience at the end of its assignments in the BSNL EurAsia Cup cricket tournament at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Monday.

Having arrived here with their second-string combination, the Dutch can pat themselves for having reached a modest but encouraging total of 183 by their standards. Pakistan `A', which won by six wickets, left nothing to chance but the Dutch were determined to make the most from their final contest in the tournament.

Maurits van Nierop distinguished himself with a 101-ball knock of 60 that contained five fours and a six over midwicket off off-spinner Tahir Khan. He lent a touch of quality to the proceedings and motivated the lower half to stand up to the opposition. Nierop gained from the support that came from Pieter Seelaar (26 off 59 balls).

"We should have done better and we are certainly proud to have been here. We did not have our full team but I hope the boys would have learnt a lot," said the Dutch coach Hans Schiferli, who also pointed out the harsh playing conditions as one of the reasons for the poor performance from his team.

Contrasting climates

The players left home in cold conditions only to encounter 40 degree-plus challenges here.

The senior players from Holland had just finished a two-week tour of South Africa and Kenya when the invitation to tour Abu Dhabi reached the Dutch.

"It was not possible for most of our senior players to take leave and come here," said Mr. Schiferli.

"We knew all along that we would face a tough format. It was a rich learning curve for us. The boys have gained from playing against stronger teams and I am sure it will help them become better players," the Holland coach sounded optimistic.

There was an embarrassing phase for Holland when Mohsin Ghaznavi was stopped from completing his five-ball 15-run over after he let go his second `beamer' that actually tested the captain-wicketkeeper Jeroen Smits.

Holland suffered from the early blows that `man of the match' Yasir Arafat dealt by claiming four wickets.

Pakistan `A' cantered its way to the target with Shahid Yousuf compiling an impressive 62 off 75 balls with eight fours. Needing to reach the target in 40 overs to earn a bonus point, Pakistan managed it without much fuss with six wickets and 7.2 overs to spare. It now meets Sri Lanka on Wednesday to decide the opponent against India in the final on May 5.

The scores:

Holland: T de Grooth c Haider b Arafat 12, E. Szwarczynksi b Arafat 18, A. Buurman c T. Khan b Arafat 4, D van Bunge c Hameed b Arafat 4, M van Nierop c Arafat b Gul 60, P. Borren b Amjad 15, J. Smits (run out) 12, M. Bukhari b T. Khan 1, P. Seelaar c B. Khan b Amjad 26, M. Ghaznavi b Gul 1, E van Giezen (not out) 1, Extras (lb-13, nb-3, w-10) 26, Total (all out in 48.1overs) 183.

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-35, 3-40, 4-47, 5-67, 6-100, 7-105, 8-165, 9-175.

Pakistan `A' bowling: Gul 9.1-0-44-2, Arafat 10-0-36-4, Amjad 9-1-34-2, T. Khan 10-0-31-1, Hafeez 8-0-21-0, Raza 2-0-4-0.

Pakistan `A': M. Hafeez c van Bunge b Bukhari 9, Y. Hameed c and b Borren 22, S. Yousuf c Szwarczynksi b Borren 62, H. Raza (not out) 41, B. Khan c Smits b Bunge 8, M ul Haq (not out) 15, Extras (lb-1, nb-7, w-19) 27, Total (for four wkts in 32.4 overs) 184.

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-67, 3-132, 4-163.

Holland bowling: van Giezen 4.4-0-24-0, Bukhari 3-0-32-1, Seelaar 10-0-35-1, Borren 10-0-54-2, Ghaznavi 0.5-0-15-0, van Bunge 4.1-0-23-1.

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