Netherlands steam past UAE

Third straight defeat for ECB lads in ICC Twenty20 World Cup Qualifier

Dubai - The Netherlands emerged as strong contenders when they registered their second straight victory in Group B of the International Cricket Council Twenty20 World Cup Qualifier-2015 in Ireland and Scotland.
Following their opening match loss to Afghanistan on Thursday, the 'Orange' men beat the UAE convincingly by seven wickets in 17.1 overs in Edinburgh on Sunday, after beating strong Scotland on Saturday.
After the departure of openers Wesley Barresi (18) and Stephan Mybhurg (10), Ben Cooper hit a splendid half century with the help of three 4s and three 6s, and along with Michael Swart (19 from 29 deliveries) and skipper Peter Borren (23 n.o. from 10 balls with three 4s and a 6) steadied the boat as the UAE tried hard to make a comeback with tidy bowling and tight fielding.
With a relatively small 120 target in front of them, the Dutch went about their task steadily rather than go for bold stroke making before sending the UAE crashing to their third straight defeat in as many matches in the tourney. Cooper was slightly more adventurous and saw three of his shots clear the ropes apart from the three of boundaries he found when the innings was between the 10th and the 12th overs. Borren said: "A pretty disciplined performance. Two wins in two and we had the chase under control. We might have struggled to rotate the strike for a bit. We were more disciplined with the ball today (Sunday).
"There were things we needed to address today (Sunday) and we did that. I couldn't fault the fielding and going into the next few games, we're in great shape. We don't know a lot about Oman, but we're certainly not going to take them lightly."
UAE captain Mohammad Tauqir, said: "I think 119 was never enough on this wicket. We tried to drag the game out, but I think this is a 140 plus wicket. I think the batting is struggling overall. Netherlands spinners bowled well in the middle overs and we didn't have a partnership. We need to go back and think about things. We still have a chance to qualify. We need to play fearless cricket from here on in. We've got three games left and we need to win them all."
Earlier, the Netherlands choosing to field first, did well to contain the UAE to 119-7 from 20 overs as medium pacer Malik Ahsan Ahmad Jamil (2-17) and spinners Roelof van der Merwe (2-10) and Michael Rippon (2-14) struck lethal blows on the aspirations of their opponents' bid to move into the T20 cricket world cup in India in 2016.The UAE had yet another decent start, this time crossing into the 30s when the game was hardly three overs old. They lost their first wicket (31-1) - Faizan Asif - consumed by Timm van der Gugten off pacer Ahmad Jamil for 17 from 13 balls including two 4s and a heave that saw the ball go a long way over the ropes.
Next to join Asif in the dressing room balcony was opening partner Mohammad Shahzad (10 from 13 balls with two hits to the ropes) who chopped the ball on to his wicket off a straight and genuinely fast van der Gugten delivery (35-2).
Shaiman Anwar (15 of 21 deliveries) who was doing a good maintenance job with the reliable Swapnil Patil left at 79-3, foxed by a Rippon left arm chinaman as Jamil covering well at deep cover accepted the chance. Patil (34 from 33 including one four) left clean bowled three runs later while trying to reverse sweep a Rippon delivery that turned a bit (82-3).
Slow left arm Van der Merwe, the Man of the Match, in his first over dismissed Fayyaz Ahmad (12 from 12 with two 4s) who sent a skier into the lap of Michael Swart at square leg to have the UAE in big problems again at 99-5 in 16.4 overs. Van der Merwe struck again next ball, bowling Abdul Shakoor (7) who crossed over during Ahmad's exit. Dutch skipper Peter Borren brought off a good one handed catch at midwicket to send back Mohammad Naved (9) to give Jamil his second wicket before the UAE batting for the day stopped at 119-7 from their share of overs.
In the Group B Saturday fixtures, Kenya held off Oman's challenge in a closely fought contest, prevailing by seven runs and the in-form Scotland went down to the Netherlands who put up a fine all-round show to secure a 32-run victory.