Netherlands A qualifies for final day ECC T10; six catches for captain Braat crush Spain
Published at 18 October, 2024Netherlands A has qualified for the T10 final day on Saturday, October 19. Although it lost to England in the evening, a win over Spain earlier in the day was enough for qualification. The team of coaches Pierce Fletcher and Ryan van Niekerk defeated Spain mainly thanks to six (!) catches by captain Sebastiaan Braat. In the evening, the Dutch (102/7) failed to finish it off after restricting England to 135.
Against Spain, Clayton Floyd was back as the opening batsman with 35 (11). Musa Ahmad 37 (12) and brother Shariz (26 of nine) also had strike rates of around 300. At 66/1/3 there even seemed to be a 200+ score on the map.
Sikander Zulfiqar has fond memories of T10 cricket against Spain. Last year the Netherlands had to make 102 runs in 27 balls, with Spain's chance of winning at 99% according to the computer. Sikander, at the time with a 'knock for the ages' of 92 not out of 21 balls, came to a great 66 off nineteen balls this year. He was dismissed in the last over, so that the 200 was just not achieved (196/6).
Daniel Doyle-Calle, known as a Hermes DVS opener, was caught cheaply in the first over, followed by captain Christian Muñoz-Mills in the second over. The fact that things went from bad to worse for the Spaniards was not only due to the successful spin twins Arnav Jain (4-18) and Saqib Zulfiqar (3-16), but mainly because of the support they received from the field. Sebastiaan Braat lived up to his reputation as the safest pair of hands with six (!) catches. 84 all out of 8.4 overs meant that Spain didn't get a bonus point from the game either – the Netherlands did.
England
In the evening England had something to put right against the Netherlands after the loss on Thursday evening. England chose to bat after what was arguably a crucial toss, but Elenbaas and Jain struck in the first two overs. Then the English brought the score to 71/2/5 (Lincoln 39). In the sixth over, however, Arnav Jain (4-28) took a fantastic hat-trick, tipping the balance back to the Dutch side (76/5/6). Olivier Elenbaas took 1-18. England A made 135/7.
The fact that the Netherlands A failed with the bat was mainly due to the English bowlers, including Allison (3-15), Hinley (3-18) and Keeling-Wright (0-9 in two overs). The exception for the Dutch side was Sikander Zulfiqar, who made 44 runs from 23 balls. Orange A (102/7/10) denied England a bonus point.
On Saturday 19 October, the four best teams will decide who will become European Champion T10.
Photo credit ECN Diana Oros
