Kervezee sets up rout of Kenya
A round-up of the second day’s action of the World Cricket League Division One in Netherlands
Cricinfo staff03-Jul-2010
Neil McCallum became Scotland’s most-capped player and starred with a half-century•International Cricket Council
Kenya were no match for Netherlands as the hosts stormed to a 117-run win in Voorburg . A century stand between Alexie Kervezee and Tom Cooper set Netherlands to 229 before a combined effort from the bowlers sunk Kenya to 112 within 30 overs.Kervezee and Cooper came together after Thomas Odoyo struck in the fifth over, and the pair added 123 for the second wicket. Kervezee progressed at more than a run-a-ball, hitting 11 fours and a six before he was trapped in front by a delivery from James Ngoche which turned in sharply. Kervezee, unfortunately, fell eight short of his century. Ngoche struck again soon after when he sent back the captain Peter Borren. Cooper and Wesley Barresi then added 53 to lift the hosts but the lower order failed to put together partnerships as Kenya struck quickly. Jimmy Kamande ran through the lower order to finish with 4 for 36.The chase got off to a rocky start as Kenya lost their top three for 32. The fourth wicket pair of Collins Obuya and Rakep Patel added 48, but that was the best stand Kenya could manage. Obuya’s dismissal in the 20th over, bowled by Cooper, sparked a collapse as Kenya lost their last six wickets for 23 runs. Netherlands recorded their first win after losing narrowly to Scotland on Thursday.Rain in Rotterdam forced the game between Afghanistan and Ireland to be pushed to the reserve day after Ireland completed their 50 overs. Andrew Poynter top scored with 78, supported by useful contributions by Kevin O’Brien and Trent Johnston to push the score to 237 before rain intervened.Afghanistan held the initiative initially as their seamers, Khaliq Dad and Shapoor Zadran, made early inroads to reduce Ireland to 27 for 3. But Ireland recovered via two seventy-plus stands spearheaded by Poynter. Kevin O’Brien departed for 44 before Andrew White joined Poynter to add a quick 73 in 12 overs. Johnston then made a cameo unbeaten 42 off 28 balls to lift the score to 237. Hamid Hassan, who claimed the wicket of Poynter for 78, took 3 for 53.Scotland and rain were the victors in Amstelveen as Canada fell short by 69 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis Method. Chasing 237, the Canada batsmen weren’t quite up to the mark, losing wickets at regular intervals and by the time rain forced a long interruption, they were well behind the par score.The win was set up by half-centuries by Richie Berrington and Neil McCallum, who became Scotland’s most-capped player. Umar Bhatti bowled a tight spell of 2 for 29 in ten overs to keep the top order in check before Berrington and McCallum took the initiative away. The pair added 124 for the third wicket before Rizwan Cheema bowled Berrington for 67. McCallum remained unbeaten on 89, hitting seven fours and four sixes.Early strikes by the Scotland seamers put Canada on the back foot when they began their chase. Rain intervened after ten overs with Canada 49 for 2. They stumbled further on resumption as the seamer Gordon Goudie removed Hiral Patel and Geoff Barnett in one over. When rain intervened for the second time, after 21 overs, Canada were in deep trouble at 79 for 6. They were already 80 behind the par score and Scotland had all but sealed the game. Just when it seemed as if the umpires would call it off and award the victory to Scotland, the rain stopped and the covers were off. The match was reduced to a 26-over contest and the target revised to 196. Canada had just five overs in which to get an improbable 117 and the lower order, led by Calvert Hooper did the best they could to narrow the deficit.On his record, McCallum said: “I don’t play for records and I wasn’t aware of it until I was told after I batted. If you play for any length of time then those things will follow and it’s gratifying. But the main thing is that the team is playing well.”On the match, he added: “We knew Canada would be a difficult game and by deciding to bat first we knew we had to give ourselves a chance by getting a total to defend. Myself and Richie Berrington managed to put a partnership together. In the dressing room we always talk about getting 100-plus stands and it was good that we did just that.”It was a totally different surface from the one we played against the Dutch on Thursday. We knew it wouldn’t be easy up front but we still opted to try and put a total on the board and all the batsmen did well in tough conditions. The top order had to work so hard to take the shine off the ball and keep wickets intact and Richie and I took advantage when the hardness went off the ball.”Scotland take on Ireland on Monday. “We’re very pleased with the way things are going at the moment. We took a lot of confidence from the way we played against India A last week and although the Dutch game on Thursday could have gone either way we’ll take that win, and this performance against Canada sets us up nicely for our match with Ireland,” McCallum said. “It’s a cliche but we’ve not looked beyond this match at this stage. We’ll just take each game as it comes, do the basics well if we can, and if we can do that then the rest should take care of itself.”