Narrow win Ireland in final match NORDEK T20I TriSeries
Published at 24 May, 2024The final match of the NORDEK T20I TriSeries ended in narrow win for Ireland. The Netherlands seemed to catch up with the 161 Irish runs, but stranded at 158/5.
Captain Scott Edwards won the toss and opted to field. Paul Stirling came out of the starting blocks in his characteristic way with a well-placed cover drive off Kingma and a six over the top off Pringle. Moments later he escaped with a poorly timed shot that fell between Barresi and Singh. In the same over Van Beek got his reward when Balbirnie also mistimed a shot and keeper Edwards made no mistake: 23/1/4.
After his first two scoring shots, Stirling batted less convincingly. Still, it was his partners Lorcan Tucker and Harry Tector who were dismissed when Bas de Leede was involved in the attack (44/3). Stirling himself (36) got out to Paul van Meekeren in the tenth over (56/4).
Viv Kingma tried to surprise Campher with two short balls. Campher took on the challenge with two sixes. These led to the much-needed acceleration for the Irish. Campher and Dockrell made 62 runs for the fifth wicket at a rapid pace.
The partnership was broken by a fast yorker from Van Beek. George Dockrell (53 not out off thirty balls) and Mark Adair (19 not out off eight balls) demonstrated the depth of the Irish batting line-up and brought the final score to 161/6. Van Beek, Van Meekeren and De Leede took two wickets each. Pringle (0-20) was economical.
Innings Netherlands
Levitt and O'Dowd made a quick opening stand. On 48/0 Levitt got a second life when Dockrell was unable to control a running catch over the top, but in the ninth over Levitt (39) was still dismissed when he was caught at deep mid wicket (67/1). Halfway through the innings, the Orange had the best chance of a win (74/1).
O'Dowd and Vikram Singh kept the momentum on the Dutch side despite cautious running. Eight runs per over were required and both batsmen found the boundary with some regularity. O'Dowd (60) rediscovered his form and reached his half century in the fifteenth over. However, shortly afterwards he hit a top edge in the hands of keeper Tucker (123/2).
Captain Edwards came in before Engelbrecht and De Leede, with 38 runs required from four overs. He hit two straight drives for four, but found his end in a top edge.
Vikram Singh and Bas de Leede had to get the job done. However, Singh (27) was bowled in the eighteenth over. Nineteen asked off twelve balls.
A wonderful uppercut from Barresi brought the Dutch eleven runs away from the win, but he was bowled in the final over. Bas de Leede and Logan van Beek could not get the Netherlands over the line.
