Netherlands A keeps hope alive for a place in the final with a double win

England sent the Netherlands A in. Damien van den Berg made a smooth 27 off ten balls. Thanks to Sikander Zulfiqar (35 off sixteen) and especially the unchained Shariz Ahmad (an unparalleled 80 not out of 21 balls, including ten sixes!), the Netherlands A reached 189/4, a monster score. Shariz made 34 runs in the ninth over. 

England came out all guns blazing. 92/0/4 (!) was the result, well ahead of the required run rate (Connell 49 out of 15). Two wickets from captain Braat (a crucial 2-28) in the fifth over gave the fielding team hope, but batsman Sam Young – missed at 8 and 56 – looked dangerous. When he was beautifully caught by Elenbaas for 63 (20), England still had to make 55 runs off sixteen balls. When Leijer finally gave Elenbaas his deserved wicket, the British resistance was broken: 189-169. Shariz also excelled with the ball with 1-17 in two overs. The catching of the Netherlands A was mediocre. 

Scotland

Against Scotland, the Netherlands A batted first. Sikander Zulfiqar (29 off ten balls) was in great form, but was brilliantly caught by Uzair Ahmad (46/2/3). Sebastiaan Braat (28 off fifteen balls) was also the victim of a great catch (at mid off). Partly thanks to eleven extras, the final score was 147/8.

Callum Garden made 50 (20), but that was all: Scotland needed 68 runs from the last four overs, 44 from the last two and thirty from the last over, a tough task. With 3-27, Sikander Zulfiqar delivered a match-winning all-round performance, while Olivier Elenbaas took 2-21. There were two catches for both Sebastiaan Braat and Saqib Zulfiqar. 

With these two victories, Netherlands A has moved from fourth to second place. On Friday, October 18, Netherlands A will play against Spain at 11:45 a.m. and again against England at 6:30 p.m. The final day is on Saturday 19 October.

https://www.ecn.cricket/european-cricket-championship/standings

Photo credit ECN Diana Oros