Ireland Under-17s got their three-game tour to the Netherlands as part of the ICC European Challenge Series off to a winning start with a six wicket victory over the hosts.
Having one the toss and electing to bowl first, Ireland got off to a great start when David Murphy had the Netherlands’ captain SM Zulfiqar bowled with just one run on the board.
Despite a number of Dutch batsmen getting starts – de Graaff 19, Khan 17 & SA Zulfiqar 27 – only wicket-keeper Roeland Verhagen (51*) passed the 50-mark, eventually running out of partners in the 48th over with the score on 160.
Of the Irish bowlers there were two wickets apiece for Rory Anders, David Murphy and Aaron Gillespie, while William McClintock and Jack Tector also picked up a wicket each with Fiachra Tucker claiming a wicket and the all-important run-out to end the Dutch innings.
In reply Ireland captain Tector (43*) was the stand-out performer with the bat, he combined well with Lorcan Tucker (24*) and their unbeaten partnership of 52 saw Ireland over the line. There were also contributions with the bat from Sonny Cott (25) at the top of the order, and Gary McClintock (25) who also put on a 50 partnership with the captain.
The sides meet again tomorrow in a 50-over game, before playing a T20 on Thursday.
At VRA Rotterdam:
Netherlands 160-10 (48 overs, R Verhagen 51*, A Gillespie 2-16, D Murphy 2-26, R Anders 2-30)
Ireland 161-4 (36.4 overs, J Tector 43*, S Cott 25, G McClintock 25, van Slobbe 2-17)
Ireland win by 6 wickets and lead the series 1-0
Ireland v Netherlands at the VRA ground in Rotterdam
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Connaught
