Wesley Barresi walked back to the pavilion with an unbeaten 137 to his name, an innings of brutal panache and strokeplay. It took his country to an impressive 265, a total that would be challenging to chase in all fifty overs. But Kenya haven't got fifty overs - they have only 36 at their disposal if they are to continue the fight to retain ODI status.
Irfan Karim had the right idea, though. He battered his second ODI ton, holing out with 108 to his name from only 84 deliveries. He was also ably supported by Ragheb Aga, who, promoted to number three for pinch-hitting purposes, overthrew his ODI batting demons to blast 86, and his old sparring partner Collins Obuya. However, with just two balls before that 36-over mark, the veteran Steve Tikolo still had to steer the side over the finish line. He made no mistake. largely because he was handed the run he needed via an Ahsan Malik wide.
24th January, Pakistan
They're already 2-0 down in this three-game series, but after coming so close in the second of those losses, the Afghan Under-19s must be pretty confident of a favourable result. Hashmatullah Shaidi has been superb against the Pakistanis, picking up three successive half-centuries, but today he one-upped that with a dramatic unbeaten 85-ball hundred. Afghanistan's 266 is one better than the Netherlands' 265 of the previous day, barely anything, but what came next was shockingly unexpected.
Fareed Ahmad happened. The left-arm quick dismissed the entire Pakistani top-three in his opening over of the series, all caught behind. In his third over, he added his fourth and fifth scalps; six balls later he'd also claimed his sixth and seventh. This game him figures, at one stage, of four overs, one maiden, seven wickets for five. Pakistan do not recover. 52 all out is a marked recovery.
Afghanistan look set to enjoy a bright future, all being well. There were two talents who stood out in this match, the batsman Hashmatullah Shaidi and the seamer Fareed Ahmed, but perhaps the most startling is the almost implausibly young spinner, Zia-ur-Rahman. He even makes me feel old, and earlier this month proved unplayable in the U19 Asia Cup, aged only 15. Clearly, there's something very right about the cricketing structure in Afghanistan. Perhaps sporting triumph might lead to a triumph in the peace process. One thing is for sure, though - the present generation of players is no mere flash in the pan. |
For the Dutch, though, the future just got very hazy indeed. By contriving to miss out on the Super Sixes, their ODI status has been thrown into jeopardy. Unless they meet Canada in their play-offs, they may have played their last ODI for a very long time. Of course, this all depends on the still unreleased ICC decision on ODI status. It looks like their entire cricketing structure may have the funding and prestige pulled out from under it, and all because their run rate was 0.03 runs per over too low. In anyone's book, that has to be a little harsh, however strong or weak the team in question. |
If we accept, as many well-reasoned and well-respected experts do not, that "status" is vital to the integrity of international cricket, then why on earth does there have to be a cap on how many nations can have that status? If they're good enough, let them right in. If Hong Kong, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, and the UAE want ODI status, then it will have to come at the expense of Canada, Kenya, Netherlands and Scotland. That's four countries who are heavily dependent on sizeable ICC funding that would instantly be lost on the basis of a single tournament.
Surely you could afford to open your arms to all of those countries? As the internet so often says: why not both? Why can't we have 20 ODI nations, or more? Why can't they all play in the World Cup? Why is cricket as a sport stuck so fiercely in the imperial eighteenth century, with the rest of the world many hundred years ahead? It's financial lightweights like the Netherlands who get thrown onto the scrapheap on the back of a dodgy performance, and financial heavyweights who may be too busy squabbling over yet more cash that they might not even have noticed the news from New Zealand.