Bishop School too strong in Dutch Lions U18’s first ever day-night match
Published at 01 March, 2023The second match of the pre-season tour of the Dutch Lions U18 was played at Bishop School. It was the very first day-night match for the young men. They had the privilege of batting under floodlights, but it turned out to be more difficult than expected. The Netherlands lost by a 100+ runs margin.
The ground is situated with the Tafelberg in the background and that offered some great scenery. Not distracted though by that all too familiar sight, the opening batters of Bishop schools built a steady partnership of 130 runs, before Teun Leijer took a wicket, only followed another 88 runs later by batter number 1 who had scored 120 runs by that time. Bishop school closed their innings at 227 (Teun Leijer 1-37 in 7).
The Netherlands started their innings under floodlight, which was a new experience for all boys. Unfortunately, it did not inspire them to great batting performances. Particularly in the middle order, the wickets kept tumbling and if it would not have been for Teun Leijer’s 39 runs, the Lions may well have ended under 100 runs. Now the defeat was limited to just over 100, The Netherlands ending at 124. The last few overs were played in half-dark as two of the light poles stopped functioning.
Two more matches to go, again versus renowned schools in the Western Cape. There is no reason to be overconfident and the realisation is that everyone will have to work hard to be competitive in these matches and get the best possible lessons out of it, with the bigger goal of the World Cup Qualifier in August in mind.
