Zulfiqar brothers do Houdini act against Spain
Published at 13 October, 2022The Netherlands A has miraculously won the second T10 game against host country Spain. In the Dream11 European Cricket Championship in Malaga it was 127/8 – 128/5 thanks to an incredible partnership of 90 runs off 31 balls from Sikander and Saqib Zulfiqar.
The Netherlands had a great start when Spain started to bat and Sebastiaan Braat picked up a handsome catch at long on. Moments later, Braat had a unique opportunity to send Hamza Saleem Dar back to the pavilion on the first ball he faced. It was ironic that one of the best fielders dropped the straightforward opportunity. Fortunately for the Netherlands, the miss was not expensive.
Led by the again impressive Daniel Doyle-Calle (57 of 25), the Spaniards sprinted to a solid 127/8 (Braat 3-14). Olivier Elenbaas took three catches.
Innings Netherlands
The Netherlands' runchase started disastrously, with four wickets in the first seven (!) balls: Floyd, Rasool, Klein and Musa Ahmad.
Sebastiaan Braat (19) and Saqib Zulfiqar tried to repair the leak, but could not achieve the desired acceleration. With Sikander and Saqib Zulfiqar on the pitch, still 68 runs were required off the last four (!) overs.
Then the magic began, especially from Sikander who mainly had the strike. Well supported by Saqib (29 off 14), Sikander hit one ball after another out of the park. The seventh over went for 24 and the ninth for twenty runs, which meant the Netherlands only needed twelve runs off the final over. The unleashed Sikander, who remained not out with a monumental 67 off 23 balls including seven sixes, only needed three balls: The Netherlands 128/5.
The Dutch team will play the play-offs on Friday 14 October.
Photo: European Cricket / Diana Oros
