Ireland level series against Netherlands with 8-wicket win in second ODI

Ireland levelled the three-match ODI series against Netherlands on Friday after winning the second encounter by 8 wickets in Utrecht. Chasing 158 in 50 overs, the Irish team went over the line in 43 overs. They didn’t have a really good start to the chase after losing William Portfield for a duck.

But Paul Stirling and captain Andrew Balbirnie made sure that the last match’s feat doesn’t repeat again where the Ireland side failed to chase down a pretty small total and suffered a defeat by just one run eventually.

While Stirling scored 52 off 64, Balbirnie remained unbeaten at 63 off 127 deliveries. The two batsmen put up a stand of 82 runs for the second wicket before Stirling departed. Balbirnie was then joined by Harry Tector in the middle.

The skipper along with Tector (30*) anchored the team to the finish line. For Netherlands, Logan van Beek and captain Pieter Seelaar scalped a wicket apiece.

Earlier, batting first, Netherlands started off the proceedings in a decent manner as the openers Myburgh and Max ODowd scored 44 runs for the first wicket before Myburgh was sent in the hut for 11 after he was cleaned up by Joshua Little.

Myburgh’s dismissal saw the fall of wickets at regular intervals and the Netherlands team was soon reduced to 111/6 to eventually get bundled out for 157 in the final over.

Craig Young and Little starred with the ball for Ireland as both the bowlers picked up a four-wicket haul each.

Ireland bowler Little who bagged a four-for expressed his delight for making a significant contribution in the team’s win.

“Happy that I was able to contribute to a win. I've lost weight and got fitter. It was a huge disappointment the other day and so I'm absolutely delighted that we've pulled this off,” he said.

Netherlands skipper Seelar explained how the track player in the initial part of the match when they were put into bat by Ireland.

“It was a good toss to lose I guess. Thought that it was going to be a similar surface but it did a little more in the morning. Got a bit flatter in the afternoon. I won't say that it's why we only got 157 but it was trickier in the morning,” he said.

Ireland captain Balbirnie hailed his side’s win and lauded the bowling effort.

“It was (a complete performance). I thought we bowled really well and the chase was much more composed than the other day. Bowlers are in a good spot at the moment and it's good that the batting group could see the team through today,” he said.

With the series now levelled, the decider will be played on Monday at the same venue.

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Right place at the right time: How Karnataka engineer became Netherlands umpire

It was just a matter of being at the ‘right place at the right time’ says Nitin Bathi who officiated an ICC CWC Super League game as a local umpire for the Netherlands in their first of three matches against Ireland in Utrecht. The Bengaluru born Indian citizen started his journey of international umpiring through the recently concluded two-match series that the Netherlands played against Scotland. Talking about his journey, the 34-year-old Devangree born, Nitin said, “I cleared the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) state panel test in 20016 and BCCI Level-1 panel test in 2009.” A spiring cricketer himself, Nitin took to umpiring on the advice of his coach at the United Cricketers, his club in Karnataka. The IT graduate was trained by the likes of S Murlidhar, Nandan and Shavir Tarapore, some of the finest names in the Indian cricket umpiring scene. “I never thought I would have time for cricket when I moved to Europe. I came to the Netherlands on one year contract and soon I got a long term visa thanks to my job at Intel,” Nitin, who didn’t have any of his decisions reviewed in his only game with DRS technology, continued. “I approached Royal Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB) for an opportunity to officiate in matches. They not only took me in but also encouraged me,” he added. The journey which began with Topklasse, the premier division cricket league in the Netherlands moved on and reached as much as officiating not just one but three international games so far. Nitin, whose parents still live in India is worried that he might not have many international matches to officiate as being an Associate nation, the Netherlands get very few international games. However his complaint might need some tweaking as three big nations in Pakistan, England and West Indies have already announced their tours to the Dutch nation and with CWC Super League in running, the orange brigade and Nitin might see more international games falling in their kitty.

WTC final | Brett Lee sees 'amazing' talent in India, but picks New Zealand as favourites

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PSL partners Facebook for Live broadcast through Facebook Paid Online Events

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Adil Rashid expects The Hundred to bring diversity, new generation of cricketers into game

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