European T10 team recovers well after two defeats
Published at 21 February, 2025On Thursday, the British and Irish were unbeatable, making no less than 203 runs in ten overs. Max O'Dowd escaped the malaise with two catches.
As long as O'Dowd was at the crease, Europe had a tiny chance of chasing the monster score, but 53/0/3 meant that Europe still had to make more than 20 runs per over! O'Dowd showed his class with 75 runs off 23 balls (10x6), but when he was caught behind the wicket, Europe's chances of winning dwindled. It was 197/5; unbelievably enough, Europe was only one big hit short of a tie.
Victory over World XI
With this loss, Europe temporarily fell back to last place in the ranking. It was time to bring about a turnaround against the World XI, which batted first. Halfway through the innings, it was only 61/1. Nice for a T20, too little for a T10. The world citizens could not recover from this slow start: the score was only 120/2 with Skanda Sharma (61) as top scorer. Romario Roach took sixteen balls for his 19 runs. Kiwi legend Ross Taylor did not bat! Sikander Zulfiqar (1-13) bowled the top scorer.
With 35 runs from fifteen balls, Max O'Dowd then laid the foundation for a relatively simple victory to which Hermes DVS player Doyle Calle also contributed. Europe looked up again.
Legendary chase against Asia
It was important to continue the upward trend against the Asian team, which had a flying start with 71/0/3 (!) and seemed to be heading for a score of 230. Several relatively economical overs prevented that; the end result was only 159/6. (Sikander Zulfiqar 1-14).
With unparalleled batting – including six sixes in a row (!) in the sixth over by O'Dowd – Max O'Dowd (56* off eighteen balls) and Noah Croes (68 off 20 balls) brought the target within reach.
photo credit: ECN Diana Oros
