Monday, March 27, 2006

Holland Record Big Win Over Lacklustre Kenya 'A'

I'm glad I went to bed when I did last night - when there was still time and wickets left for Kenya 'A' to make a decent fist of the reply. As it was, it continued to be a steady procession of wickets as the Dutch bowled themselves to a convincing 100 run victory. Brijal Patel was the highest scoring Kenyan Batsman with 45 off 82, but even that was pretty ordinary when compared with De Leeder's fantastic 123 off 113 earlier in the first innings. On a day when there had been a great opportunity for some of the youngsters to step up and claim a place in the senior side, they watched it slip through their fingers. Ashish Karia could warrant a call up after his bowling effort, and Rajesh Bhudia was also impressive with the new ball. Unfortunately, Kenya's search for a free scoring batsman continues. We can only hope that the top order manage to apply themselves with a lot more success on Wednesday. It has not been a good week for Kenyan cricket, but all credit to the Netherlands for their efforts. Tim De Leede set the scene with his hundred, ably assisted by De Grooth with 80, then the bowlers maintained good discipline to make sure Kenya were never in the match. Best figures went to DLS van Bunge with 4-18 off 3.5 overs, but Reekers, Stelling and Kashif all chipped in with wickets and were economical. Holland will take a lot of confidence into Wednesday's Intercontinental Cup match after yesterday's performance. Kenya will have to do some quick rebuilding after arriving home yesterday afternoon from a mauling in Bangladesh.
There is a good write up on the match by Rod Lyall on Cricket Europe, who also have a scorecard for the match.

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