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Rory Anders picked up 3 wickets as an excellent display with the ball from Ireland’s bowlers helped the side to a 76 run win over the Netherlands at Les Quennevais, making it two wins from two in the ICC Europe U19 Division One.
Final Scorecard

With the match reduced to 45 overs per side after early rain at the Jersey venue saw the Ireland innings interrupted after 10 overs, Ireland’s total of 185-9 never really looked in danger as the Boys in Green dominated proceedings with both seam and spin.

Rory Anders was the star of the show taking 3-19 from his 9 overs – he and James Mitchell (1-23) bowled tight spells at the top of the innings, sharing four maidens between them in the opening 12 overs as the Netherlands’ top order struggled to get the ball away. That pressure told in the 5th over when Anders had Pieter de Graff caught by Ben White with just two to his name and 9 runs on the board.

Thereafter wickets fell regularly, with only Saqib Zulfikar (23) putting up any real resistance and a late cameo from Rens van Troost (18) couldn’t fend off an Ireland win as they were bowled out for 109 in 39 overs.

Ben White continued his fine form with the ball taking 2-26, while there was also two wickets for Tom Stanton (2-12) with Gary McClintock (1-20).

Earlier, Ireland weren’t at their best with the bat but still put a defendable target on the board with William McClintock (36) again getting runs at the top of the innings. A number of the Irish line-up made good starts with Jack Tector making 32, while Gary McClintock made 20, but couldn’t kick on.

It was partnerships between Mitchell (29*) and Anders (20) first, then Mitchell and White (10*) that pushed the score along for Ireland in the latter stages of the innings and they closed on 185-9 in 45 overs.

For the Netherlands Asad Zulfiquar was the pick of the bowlers taking 3-23 off his 5 overs, with Asief Hoseinbanks (2-19 from 9 overs) and Davi van Slobbe (2-29 from 9 overs) picking up a brace each.

Following today’s match, www.cricketireland.ie caught up with man of the match Rory Anders who praised his side’s work ethic in today’s win, “I really think it was a result of the team rallying really well together and fighting hard. We knew we needed to win this game to keep hopes of qualifications alive and we did just that. We fought hard from the first over to the last, there was no let up for the Dutch and we made sure we didn’t give them a sniff.”

Ireland bowled really tight lines, not allowing the batsmen any room to play, Anders continued, “The plan was to hit good lines and lengths and the pitch would do the rest for us. Early on the ball was moving away and bouncing a lot if you bowled cross seam.”

A key feature of both Ireland’s matches so far has been the commitment and professionalism in the field, “I think the fielding is a result of consistent work throughout the winter we have done and then during the two camps we had pre-tournament. The coaches have definitely put an emphasis on how we need to be a good fielding side with the whole unit working together and we have been just that for the first few games.”

He continued, “The intensity from the lads throughout the match was fantastic and I think we really enjoyed the ferocious atmosphere out there. We didn’t take a backward step and the pressure we put on the Dutch told in the end.”

Ireland head in to Wednesday’s crucial clash with Scotland full of confidence, you can follow that match live on www.cricketireland.ie and on Cricket Ireland’s twitter @Irelandcricket.

Rory Anders picked up 3-19 in Ireland’s win
[3383] Ireland U19 v Netherlands U19 – ireland-u19-v-netherlands-u19
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