Cricket news round-up – 3 November: Netherlands win T20 Qualifiers, third place for Ireland

Netherlands won third World T20 Qualifiers title. Abdur Razzak became the first Bangladesh bowler to take 600 first-class wickets.

Netherlands win World T20 Qualifiers

Netherlands delivered a very professional performance in the final of the Men’s World T20 Qualifiers to beat Papua New Guinea by seven wickets. This is their third World T20 Qualifiers title and a good mix of youth and experience helped them to prove their superiority against some very good teams. They restricted PNG for just 128 runs, 21 of which came in the last over thanks to some audacious hitting from Jason Kila who hit a couple of fours and sixes to score 27 off just 11 balls. Brandon Glover bowled brilliantly to take three wickets as Lega Siaka top scored for PNG with 39. Roelof van der Merwe and Timm van der Gugten picked up two wickets.  Although the Netherlands lost the wicket of Tobias Visee in the first over the chase was never in doubt. Ben Cooper scored a handy 41 and chase was completed by experienced Ryan ten Doeschate (34 off 23) and Colin Ackermann (29 off 33) with an over to spare.

Earlier Ireland won a low-scoring affair in the third-fourth place play-off against Namibia. After being bowled out for 135 they restricted Namibia to just 108 expertly. The Ireland spinners Simi Singh and Gareth Delany picked five wickets between them for just 48 runs in eight overs. Namibian captain Gerhard Erasmus played a lone battle and scored the only half-century of the match. His 51 off 34 was the only highlight of the scorecard which had nine single digit scores. Andy Balbirnie top scored for Ireland with 46 as JJ Smit and Craig Williams picked up three wickets each during Ireland innings.

Pakistan players meet PCB

According to a report published on ESPNCricinfo, the dispute between Pakistan Cricket Board and the players found a temporary solution.  Imad Wasim, Shoaib Malik, and Mohammad Amir were among a group of Pakistan’s cricketers on the verge of a strike last week before a meeting with PCB chief executive Wasim Khan.

The cricketers had issues with the PCB revoking of NOCs for the upcoming T10 league in Abu Dhabi. Apart from this, the meeting ended up discussing a number of issues, including the overall NOC policy, and communication between players and the board. Imad Wasim reportedly played the lead role in the discussions on behalf of the players. On the other hand, Imran Ahmad Khan, the PSL player acquisition head and a PCB employee worked as a mediator for player-board negotiations.

No further meetings are scheduled as of now between players and the board. But after the T20s with Australia, the players could potentially look for another discussion with a week to go before the T10 begins.

600 first-class Wickets for Abdur Razzak

Abdur Razzak became the first Bangladesh bowler to reach 600 first-class wickets. Razzak achieved the milestone during Khulna Division’s NCL match at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. The match began with 594 wickets to Razzak’s name. The veteran then finished the first innings with 7/69 and Robiul Haque became Razzak’s 600^th prey.

Razzak said, “I am happy with my achievement. Six hundred wickets is not a matter of joke. It is a big number in our context. There have been bigger milestones reached in other countries but nobody has done it here, and [the next bowler] will probably take time to reach this number.”

He further added, “I have never imagined reaching this stage of 500 or 600 wickets. It is a big thing in a Bangladeshi context. We don’t have a lot of people with 200 or 300 wickets. I am sure someone will go past me but I am glad that I am the first one.”