Myburgh sees Netherlands to 2-1 series win over Ireland

An uncharacteristically obdurate innings of 74 off 111 from veteran opener Stephan Myburgh saw the Netherlands grind out a victory in difficult conditions and win their CWC Super League series against Ireland 2-1, becoming the first Associate to win two consecutive ODI series against Full Member opposition following their 2-0 sweep of Zimbabwe two years ago.

After the Dutch seam attack had again taken the top off the Irish batting, the hosts stuck to their task in the face of a defiant 89-run stand between Harry Tector and George Dockrell, finishing strongly with the ball to bowl Ireland out for 163 in the final over. An opening stand of 66 between Myburgh and Max O'Dowd put the Dutch in control of the chase before a now-customary wobble before drinks, but Myburgh held the under-strength middle order together to take the Dutch to the brink of victory, falling just short of the finish after a late flourish of hitting had all but sealed the win. The Dutch finished in anything but style as wickets clattered at the close, but held on to claim the series win and the points, the win taking them to ninth on the table after just three matches.

In a series that's been dominated by seam bowlers, the Dutch pace attack again made early inroads into the Irish top order after the visitors had elected to bat. Fred Klaassen struck in each of his first two overs, first striking Kevin O'Brien on the pad, a shade outside leg, before bringing one back in through the gate. The left-armer bagged an even bigger scalp in his next over as Paul Stirling chased a wide delivery that nipped back in to take the inside edge.

With Ireland's three senior batsmen back in the shed, the Dutch might have scented a collapse but George Dockrell and Harry Tector dug in for the Irish, seeing off the rest of Klaassen and Kingma's opening spells to see the visitors to 50-3 by the first drinks break. Tector took 33 deliveries to reach double figures, but once in began to find the going rather easier. Dockrell was able to profit from a few loose deliveries as the Dutch quicks began to tire in the heat. Seelaar brought himself on after the break, but could find no way to break the stand as the pair brought up the fifty partnership in the 25th over.

On what had been a difficult pitch to score on, any partnership could prove a match-winner, and frustration began to show in the field. Seelaar continued to cycle through his bowlers, resorting to the part time leg spin of Max O'Dowd, with three boundary balls and another wide seeing the pair plunder 18 crucial runs off the over. Luck and momentum both seemed to have swung Ireland's way, the first chance in some time finally came as van Beek found bounce off a length to take Tector's edge but the end result was four runs and Tector's maiden ODI fifty. Van Beek finally broke the stand at 89 three balls later however, with the aid of the pitch as a length ball skidded on low through Dockrell's guard into the stumps.

Tector had the measure of the Dutch attack by then if perhaps not that of the deck, and was visibly angry with himself when dismissed four overs later by a ball from Logan van Beek which hardly misbehaved and that he needn't have played at; the delivery had just a little extra lift and some away movement off the seam was enough to take Tector's outside edge through to Edwards. With Ireland suddenly under pressure again at 128-5, it fell to Simi Singh once again to marshal the tail, but the pressure from the Dutch was unrelenting and the bowling markedly more disciplined than it had been on Friday. Just one boundary would come for the remainder of the innings, and the pressure would tell. Lorcan Tucker was dismissed trying to pull a short ball from Timm van der Gugten that he could not get past mid-on and Andy McBrine fell LBW to the same bowler on a call that might have gone either way, though the review bore out umpire Holdstock's judgement that it had struck just inside the line in front of off stump.

Wickets would continue to come as the Irish fruitlessly sought late acceleration, Klaassen and van Beek finishing with 3-23 and 3-29 respectively, the latter also bagging a sharp run out in his follow-through to close the innings at 163 all out with four balls unused. It was less than what Ireland would have wanted, but far from indefensible given the demons in the pitch.

Despite the conditions, however, it was clear that undue caution was not in the Dutch plan. Myburgh signalled the Netherlands' intentions on the first ball, latching onto an over-pitched delivery from Barry McCarthy to just flick the ball over square leg for six. He and O'Dowd both showed commendable intent in their proactive though hardly risk-free partnership. Myburgh might have gone for just eight but for a particularly poor drop, deploying an ill-judged uppish on-drive to a full straight ball from Craig Young that was shelled by the Irish captain at mid-on. The following ball, another full delivery, was driven low and straight to the rope.

Such was the story of the first phase of the innings: chances and half-chances missed and the occasional poor ball dissipating pressure. The final ball of the power-play was almost a carbon copy of the first, a full ball from Josh Little picked up off the toes and lofted over the square leg rope for six more. After a speculative appeal on Myburgh, a leg side wide from Young brought up the fifty partnership in the next over, and for a while it looked as if the hosts might cruise home by ten wickets.

The introduction of Simi Singh yielded immediate results however, and the partnership was finally broken at 67 in the fifteenth, O'Dowd playing for spin to a ball that went on with the arm. Scott Edwards, promoted up the order in the hopes of preserving the momentum, instead became the second wicket to fall as he edged McCarthy to Stirling at slip as again the Dutch found themselves under pressure at the first drinks break. Debutant Musa Nadeem Ahmad joined Myburgh in the middle after drinks and got off the mark edging through vacant third slip. The young left hander nonetheless refused to get bogged down, using the feet and willing to bring out the sweep to McBrine and Singh to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Myburgh relinquished the role of aggressor with the fall of the wickets while Nadeem was in the middle, but the returning Josh Little squared him up with a shortish ball that on review was revealed to have feathered the outside edge. Though streaky at times, the youngster's 19 off 29 had done the Dutch cause no harm. Yet with the Netherlands' middle order having proved vulnerable all series, even at 96-3 Ireland rightly sensed there was an opening, and it was clear they were determined to seize it. De Leede was greeted with a huge appeal for LBW first ball, and a close infield almost throughout his innings to keep him on strike and under pressure. Myburgh continued to look for balls to put away, going to fifty with a top-edged pull off Young for four, while de Leede too kept his eye out for bad balls and with a packed infield found most of his limited runs coming in boundaries. The bad balls were few and far between as the Irish stuck well at their task, de Leede facing some twenty consecutive dots in an

Myburgh's patience seemed finally worn through on Mcbrine's return though, and it almost cost him first ball as he took a knee, missed a sweep and was fortunate to survive a review for LBW that again might have gone either way. Undeterred, Myburgh proceeded to take him for three consecutive boundaries, the third the biggest six of the series so far, slog swept over the rope, the cameras, the water and the road and back into the treeline at deep, deep square leg. His impatience would cost him a not-out in the end, a pre-meditated slog sweep aimed at Simi Singh denying him a chance to finish the match he'd already won, gone for 74 with six runs still needed. Captain Pieter Seelaar instead was called to the crease, surviving two LBW appeals before advancing on Singh and lifting him over mid on for four.

Neither would de Leede have the honour of hitting the winning runs as his resolute innings of 18 off 66 ended when he chipped Andy McBrine to midwicket the following over. Seelaar too would fall before the end as the Dutch stumbled toward the finish, a missed sweep and a pad in front to Singh seeing him back to the pavilion. Van Beek, who replaced him, also took a knee to Singh, missed and drew a half-appeal, but finally saw the hosts home with 25 balls and four wickets to spare, driving hard through long off to the rope to seal the series win and ten more points for the Dutch.

The win takes Netherlands to ninth in the table on 20 points, but given that they still have 21 games in hand their position is arguably stronger. A run at direct qualification remains a long-shot for the Dutch of course, though it may now just have entered their considerations. More importantly though, the series win over Ireland greatly improves their chances of avoiding the wooden spoon and the risk of relegation that goes with it. Conversely, Ireland's chances of direct qualification now look all but extinguished, and the danger of a last place finish all the more acute.