Plays of the day for the third day between Australia and Pakistan at the SCG

Peter English and Osman Samiuddin at the SCG05-Jan-2010Heat rises on North

Marcus North can be relieved Phillip Hughes didn’t succeed on his return. If Hughes, who had come in for the injured Simon Katich, had pushed on further than 37 in the second innings North might have spent the next week wondering if he would be the one squeezed out for the final Test in Hobart. In the second innings North thrust his bat in defence at Danish Kaneria but picked the wrong line and the inside edge shot to Faisal Iqbal at short leg. The dismissal left him with scores of 1, 8, 10 and 2 for his past four bats. He probably has one more chance.Cometh the hour, cometh the man?
Before the first morning, much of the talk for this Test had been about
Kaneria’s role at the SCG. He didn’t need to do much in the first
innings but the first session of the third day was a good time for him to
make an impact. He did, but not the kind Pakistan would’ve wanted; he was
lucky to last five balls of the day’s first over, then fluffed a catch
pulled straight to him at deep fine leg. And with the ball he initially looked less
threatening than Imran Farhat had at the MCG.Thanks for the laughs
Most of the day was pretty tense: Australia were trying to fight back after being 204 behind and
Pakistan, though confident, would have been much happier against any other
side. Thank heavens for Kaneria then to provide some humour in the field.
He’d already let one catch through before he dropped a bizarre return
offering from Ricky Ponting; the captain cut hard, the ball struck silly
mid-off on the thigh, and looped up towards Kaneria who somehow managed not to
get a hand on it going backwards. Throw in a few comic efforts in the
field and Kaneria, who also gave away four over-throws, was a one-man stand-up. The Australians weren’t laughing later in the day when Kaneria turned serious and ran through the middle order.Akmal watch
Number-crunchers will confirm it, but if Kaneria had a wicketkeeper
who could hold onto some edges, he would’ve gone past 300 Test wickets
long ago. Instead he has Kamran Akmal. The senior Akmal dropped regulation
edges from Michael Hussey thrice off Kaneria’s bowling, on 27, 45
and 52. In the morning Akmal had inexplicably forgotten to remove the
bails in a run-out attempt on Shane Watson. Younger brother Umar has also
dropped two sitters in the series so far; perhaps Adnan, the best hands of
the three brothers according to the late Bob Woolmer, should be recruited
as a substitute?Ponting’s summer drought

If this was the last Test it would count as Ricky Ponting’s worst batting campaign in a home summer since he was dropped during the 1998-99 Ashes. Ponting’s second-innings 11 took his tally in the five Tests against West Indies and Pakistan to 216 at an average of 27. Twelve summers ago Ponting had 47 in three Tests and was cut for Darren Lehmann. This season has been a difficult one for Ponting, who has been carrying a tender elbow since Perth, and he has one more match to adjust the record.Stan stands in bronze immortality

Stan McCabe’s unbeaten 187 at the SCG in the Bodyline series was one of three epics in his 39-Test career and hooking was a feature of those brutal and courageous innings. Now the shot has been set in stone at the ground following the unveiling of his sculpture outside the visitors’ dressing room. McCabe, who died in 1968, joins Richie Benaud and Fred Spofforth as bronzed Aussie cricketers who are remembered that way here. Playing at the same time as Bradman, McCabe shone brightest at the SCG in 1932, Johannesburg in 1935 and Trent Bridge in 1938.Pink haze

It’s Jane McGrath Day so the SCG underwent a pink makeover. The Ladies’ Stand was renamed in honour of Glenn McGrath’s late wife, some Australian flags had their blue backgrounds replaced and Michael Slater, the former batsman turned commentator, was suited to look like an elf dunked in fairy floss. The McGrath Foundation is raising money for breast cancer nurses during the “Pink Test” and late on the third day had collected A$116,000.And the winners are …

It’s award season in Australia and Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson have picked up some of the fringe prizes as the best performed in 2009. Johnson received the McGilvray Medal as the ABC Test Cricketer of the Year, the second time in a row he has taken the accolade, for his 63 wickets and 500 runs. Watson was the Australian Cricket Media Association’s best following his streak of 716 runs at 65.09 in seven Tests after replacing Phillip Hughes.

Wasim Bari, the board’s chief operating officer, will head an inquiry committee to evaluate the team’s dismal performance in Australia

Cricinfo staff01-Feb-2010The PCB has reacted strongly to Pakistan’s dismal performance in Australia, where they were whitewashed 3-0 in the Tests for the fourth consecutive time by the hosts and 5-0 in the ODIs. Wasim Bari, the board’s chief operating officer, will head an inquiry committee of six members to evaluate Pakistan’s display, provide a comprehensive analysis and make recommendations for any possible changes.”A full-time analysis is needed and we will definitely take corrective measures to improve the performance of our national team,” Bari told . “We, at the PCB, are as disappointed as any other cricket fan.”Pakistan’s chief selector Iqbal Qasim offered his resignation in the immediate aftermath of Pakistan’s ODI series defeat and called for a “major surgery on the team.” Some former players have called for a revamp in the PCB while fans have vented out their anger at the players as well as the administration. “Fans expect a lot from the team and after the defeat they vented their anger. But we are going to address the grey areas and do our best to remove those flaws,” Bari said.Bari admitted fielding had been a major worry but Pakistan had tried to address the issue after the New Zealand series, appointing Waqar Younis as the bowling and fielding coach. He added the PCB were looking for a specialist fielding coach after a disappointing display on both tours. “The top weakness is in our fielding,” he said. “Nearly 30 dropped catches on the tour of Australia and New Zealand and six, seven run-outs [were missed, which] speak of the great weakness in fielding and we are looking for a specialist fielding coach to improve this area.”If we improve our fielding and show character in matches then we can give tough times to all the teams in the world and we have done that in the past.”

Tributes pour in for Brett Lee after his Test retirement

Cricinfo staff24-Feb-2010Brett Lee has retired from Tests after 76 games and 310 wickets in the hope of prolonging his one-day and Twenty20 careers. Here are some tributes from current and former players and administrators.Dennis Lillee

“Brett is going to go down as one of the great all-time express bowlers in the world … 150-plus kph puts a huge strain on the body and it can only take so much. For him to play 76 Tests and 300-odd wickets doing what he does is a credit to him.”Andrew Flintoff

“It is very sad to hear the news that Brett is to retire from Test cricket. Everyone will remember our little moment we shared after the Edgbaston Test in 2005, but for me the great battles with bat and ball against Brett will live with me for a long time.”Richie Benaud

“I hope Brett is able to continue to play for Australia in limited-overs internationals, he is a master of orthodox and reverse-swing and no one has ever been more proud to represent his country in Test cricket. Lee and Glenn McGrath formed a splendid partnership with the new ball in both forms of the game from 1999 to 2007 and being one of only nine Australian pace bowlers to take 200 Test wickets is a great achievement.”Damien Fleming

”Of the genuine quicks [of his era], he would have played twice as much as the other guys. We just thought we had discovered the Shane Warne of fast bowling [when he emerged]. That probably put unrealistic expectations on him, but that was my thinking because he actually bowled in really good areas in those first couple of Tests, and he was lightning.”Jason Gillespie

“To always come back fitter, hungrier, stronger and bowling the pace that he bowled, I just think is a testament to his character. I don’t think the public would appreciate how much pain he bowled in … and he always wanted another over.”Justin Langer

“There are few better sights in the game of cricket than Brett Lee in white, sweat band pumping, high leap, poetic follow through and then a smile. Test cricket will be poorer without Brett, who apart from his fitness and skill, is one of the most likeable people I have met in the game of cricket.”Merv Hughes

“You look at Shoaib Akhtar and Shaun Tait and certainly Brett Lee was right up there in pace, his longevity at that pace was superb and I really can’t believe that people questioned his ability.”Andrew Hilditch, Australia’s chairman of selectors

“Brett has made an outstanding contribution to the Australian Test team over a long period and it has been a great pleasure to see him develop as a person and a cricketer over that period. He’s been one of the world’s quickest bowlers in Test cricket for a long period of time and a key member of Australia’s squad during a very successful era in Australian cricket. While Brett has announced his retirement from Test cricket, we will continue to monitor his progress as he returns from injury and will be keeping a close eye on his form in the shorter formats.”James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive

“Brett’s had a fantastic career in Test match cricket for Australia over a long period and I take this opportunity to congratulate him on the way he has represented his country and the outstanding contribution he has made. Brett has played a key role in helping the Australian team be one of the most successful Test teams in history. But it’s also the way he went about his cricket, with a readiness to smile and a clear enjoyment of what he was doing, which also helped lift the team’s popularity and won the support of fans in Australia and throughout the world.”

Shane Watson has completed his rise in importance to Australia in all three formats by being named the Allan Border Medallist for 2010

Brydon Coverdale15-Feb-2010Shane Watson has completed his rise in importance to Australia in all three formats by being named the Allan Border Medallist for 2010. In a year in which Watson established himself as a Test opening batsman while remaining a key top-order man in the limited-overs game, he finished with 125 votes and beat the second-placed Michael Clarke (90), while Mitchell Johnson came third with 87 votes.Watson was also named Australia’s One-Day International Player of the Year and his five-day opening partner Simon Katich took out the Test title. The recognition of his peers, media and umpires as Australia’s best player over the past 12 months was a major landmark for Watson, who had previously battled injuries for nearly a decade and struggled to become a full-time member of Australia’s team.A clearly emotional Watson was close to tears as he accepted a prize that seemed a world away while he was battling injuries to nearly every part of his body over the past eight years. “It’s been an awesome ride,” Watson said. “It’s very overwhelming actually to have received this award.”Watson made special mention of the work put in by Cricket Australia’s medical staff, as well as the sports physio Victor Popov, who has helped Watson remain free of serious injuries for the past couple of years. Watson said he had never considered giving up cricket but did think about abandoning his bowling in an effort to reduce the stress on his body.”I’m very surprised at times that they [the selectors] hadn’t lost faith in me,” Watson said. “I was always doing everything I possibly could to try and instill that faith but unfortunately every time I felt like I was going all right I’d break down with injury.”There was a time when I definitely thought there was a chance I was going to have to give up bowling and just be a batsman. But that was only really for a couple of weeks and then it was one guy’s guidance and time and expertise that really made me turn that thinking around and just break down me as an athlete and a person.”Watson’s value as a one-day opener has been clear for at least 18 months and culminated in him delivering Australia the Champions Trophy in South Africa last year, when he scored centuries in both the semi-final win over England and the final triumph over New Zealand. But it was in the Test arena that Watson provided the biggest surprise over the past year, when he stepped in to replace the out-of-form opener Phillip Hughes during the Ashes tour.Questions were raised about his ability to face the new ball and he answered them in the best possible way, with 849 Test runs at 56.60 including one century during his nine Tests at the top of the order. He has also offered Ricky Ponting a useful fifth bowling option and since his Ashes return he has taken 13 Test wickets at 29.61.Following a series of scores frustratingly close to triple figures – 96, 89 and 93 – he finally broke through for his first Test century in a Man-of-the-Match effort during the win over Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test. In the voting period for the one-day international prize, Watson was the third-leading run scorer and the third-leading wicket taker, and won the award with 33 votes from Michael Hussey on 25 and Clarke on 21.Katich’s win in the Test category gave him just reward for being Australia’s leading run scorer during the voting period. Katich scored 1114 runs at 48.43 from 13 Tests and edged out Johnson with 10 votes and Watson and Clarke, who tied for third with nine votes each.Katich scored Test centuries in Durban, Cardiff and Hobart during the past 12 months, as well as a string of scores in the 90s during the home Tests against West Indies and Pakistan. Since returning to the Test team on the 2008 tour of the West Indies, Katich has scored seven hundreds and has averaged 52.16. It was only an injury to Matthew Hayden on that trip that opened the door for Katich’s Test return after nearly three years out of the team.”I guess I was pretty fortunate that I got another chance courtesy of Haydos’ Achilles,” Katich said. “If he hadn’t got injured I don’t think I would have played Test cricket again, so I am just grateful for the opportunity from the selectors and Ricky and I have just tried to make the most of it this time around.”

Ron Hamence, a member of Don Bradman’s Invincibles squad which toured England in 1949, has died in Adelaide, aged 94

Peter English25-Mar-2010Sam Loxton has remembered his fellow Invincible Ron Hamence as a beautiful all-round player who was a great character with a wonderful voice. Hamence, who died in an Adelaide nursing home on Wednesday aged 94, played three Tests in 1947 and 1948 and was a valuable member of Don Bradman’s undefeated Ashes squad in 1948.”He was a lovely player,” Loxton told Cricinfo. “He never played in a Test match in ’48, he ran into a bit of trouble – Harvey was his name!” Neil Harvey, the baby of the team, went on to become one of Australia’s greatest batsmen while Hamence went back to South Australia and did not represent his country again.”He had a lot of Bradman in him because he played so much with Bradman [at South Australia],” Loxton said. “He was a lovely little fellow, he had a beautiful voice, a great little character, we loved him. My commiserations to the family.” Hamence’s songs were popular on the long boat trip to England and he remained in demand throughout the tour.Hamence scored 81 runs in his three Tests and is best known for his near-miss against Somerset in a tour game. “He got to 99 and hit two balls with terrific speed only to see them gathered by a fieldsman, then fell to what everyone said was the ball of the day,” Bradman wrote in Farewell to Cricket. His team-mates were desperate for him to reach a century in England but he never made it.Bradman summed up Hamence in his notes as “a fine batsman of the strictly orthodox type”. “Very sound and reliable with his game based on driving. An extremely useful reserve who could have been played in the Tests with confidence.”Hamence featured in 99 first-class games, scoring 11 hundreds in 5285 runs, at an average of 37.75. He made his first-class debut in the 1935-36 season, collecting a century against Tasmania on debut, and also reached three figures in his final match in 1950-51. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Australian Air Force. He is survived by daughter Lynette Hallett and grand-daughters Sharon and Jan.Hamence’s death leaves Loxton as Australia’s oldest living Test player. “Ninety-four, it’s a great age,” Loxton said. “I’ve got 89 coming up in four days, I hope I make that one.” Arthur Morris, 88, and Harvey, 81, are the only other survivors of the Invincibles.

The IPL Awards Night was held at a Mumbai hotel on Friday evening with several senior BCCI officials missing, in another sign of the deepening rift between IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and his colleagues in the BCCI

Cricinfo staff23-Apr-2010The IPL Awards Night was held at a Mumbai hotel on Friday evening with several senior BCCI officials missing, in another sign of the deepening rift between IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and his colleagues in the BCCI. There were unconfirmed reports that Modi had requested a postponement of Monday’s IPL governing council meeting but the BCCI did not appear inclined to entertain any such request.The awards ceremony went ahead in the absence of BCCI president Shashank Manohar, secretary N Srinivasan and IPL vice-chairman Niranjan Shah. Those who attended included team owners Vijay Mallya (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Preity Zinta (Kings XI Punjab), Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra (Rajasthan Royals), Gayatri Reddy (Deccan Chargers) and Jai Mehta (Kolkata Knight Riders). Sunil Gavaskar, a member of the IPL Governing Council, attended, though many of his colleagues did not.At the awards Modi thanked the BCCI, among others, for making his “17-year-old dream” come true. “I thank the BCCI, the franchises, the players, the sponsors and most of all the millions of fans for helping create the most successful cricket league in the world, for making the IPL what it is today.”Shah indicated that the BCCI would take a hard line with Modi. “The IPL is far bigger than any one individual,” he told . “Everyone has to fall in line with the rules of the institution. The meeting is on, whether Mr Modi is there or not. We need to draw a line under this matter.”A PTI story quoted sources as saying Modi had, for the second time in three days, sought a postponement of Monday’s meeting, citing his hectic schedule of the past few weeks leading up to Sunday night’s tournament final. The meeting was called to address the wide range of allegations of financial impropriety against the league and its commissioner and it is widely speculated that Modi will be ousted from his post at the meeting.”I need to prepare the documents to support my replies to all the questions,” the report quoted Modi as saying in a mail to the BCCI. “I have worked for you (BCCI) for five long years without taking any money, consider giving me just five days for the documents.”Modi had made a similar request on April 21, which was firmly turned down by BCCI president Shashank Manohar. A BCCI source told Cricinfo there would be no change in that stand.There were also reports – which Modi has denied – that he was contemplating taking the BCCI to court over the legality of the meeting.If Modi skips the meeting, the governing council meeting is expected to pass a resolution to remove him from the post of IPL commissioner and chairman. He had insisted through the week that he would not resign in the wake of the controversy tarnishing the IPL.The IPL jury awards:
Best Debut Performance – Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians), Best Batsman – Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians), Best Bowler – Pragyan Ojha (Deccan Chargers), Best Dramatic Performance – Harbhajan Singh (Mumbai Indians), Most Consistent Performer – Jacques Kallis (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Best Breakthrough Performance 2008 – Brendon McCullum (Kolkata Knight Riders), Best Breakthrough Performance 2009 – Anil Kumble (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Best Fielder – AB de Villiers (Delhi Daredevils), Best Ground – Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Best Stadium Experience – DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.

Brett Lee’s hopes of making an international comeback have been dashed by a muscle strain in his right forearm that will force him out of the ICC World Twenty20

Cricinfo staff28-Apr-2010Brett Lee’s hopes of making an international comeback have been dashed by a muscle strain in his right forearm that will force him out of the ICC World Twenty20. Lee suffered the problem during Australia’s one-run warm-up loss to Zimbabwe and the team has requested a replacement player, likely to be either Doug Bollinger or Ryan Harris.The injury is a major blow for Lee, who has not played for his country since October and was making his return from elbow surgery. Lee felt pain after taking 1 for 13 in four overs and later had MRI scans, and a team spokesman said the strain was unrelated to his elbow trouble.”It’s a muscle strain,” the team spokesman told AAP. “We have gone to the ICC Technical Committee to ask for a replacement player.”The latest problem will raise further questions over the future of Lee, 33, who retired from Tests in February but wanted to remain a key Twenty20 and one-day player. A broken thumb curtailed his IPL season and although he retained his Cricket Australia contract, his ongoing injury worries must be a concern for the team management.Australia play their second warm-up game against the Windward Islands on Thursday before their opening match of the tournament proper against Pakistan on Sunday. Bollinger and Harris are the front-runners to replace Lee, having both had strong summers in the shorter formats.

Suresh Raina, India’s captain for the tri-series in Zimbabwe, has said the tour is “an excellent opportunity” for the younger players to stake a claim for a spot in the national line-up

Cricinfo staff23-May-2010Suresh Raina, India’s stand-in captain for the tri-series in Zimbabwe, has said the tour is “an excellent opportunity” for the younger players selected in place of resting or injured seniors to stake a claim for a regular spot in the national line-up.”It’s nice that the seniors wanted a break and the selectors took the positive step of picking such a young side,” Raina told the . “Indeed, one is thankful to the board.”Raina was named captain for the tournament, and Virat Kohli his deputy, after the selectors decided to rest regular captain MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Praveen Kumar. Seamers Pankaj Singh and Ashok Dinda, wicketkeeper Naman Ojha and offspinner R Ashwin are the new faces getting a look in.”I spoke to Gary [Kirsten] before leaving the West Indies. We talked about the preparations on getting to Zimbabwe. I’ve got a good pace attack, all are young and hungry. The tour will be an opportunity to learn and press for a regular berth in the ODIs and stake a claim at the highest level — Test cricket.”Raina will be leading India for the first time and he said his aim was to “win every game” without putting himself or his team-mates under too much pressure. “By nature, I’m very positive and, while on the field, I’m high on intensity. Those things won’t change. I’ve learnt from some of our best captains. I realise one has to be disciplined and one must follow the process.”I’m happy with the team. At some level or the other, I’ve played with all those who’ve been selected – Under-19, India A, India. I know them and they know me.” India will leave for Zimbabwe on May 26 and play their first match against the hosts on May 28 before taking on Sri Lanka two days later.

Shaun Udal has stood down from the Middlesex captaincy following his team’s poor start to the season and will be replaced by Adam Gilchrist for the next six games, after Gilchrist requested to extend the terms of his contract and play in Middlesex’s away

Cricinfo staff11-Jun-2010Shaun Udal has stood down from the Middlesex captaincy following his team’s poor start to the season and will be replaced by Adam Gilchrist for the next six games, after Gilchrist requested to extend the terms of his contract and play in Middlesex’s away games.Udal, 41, had taken over the captaincy in September 2008 but struggled last year, with Middlesex finishing second from bottom in the second division of the County Championship. Things have not improved this year with Middlesex winning just two out of nine games in the Championship and struggling in the Clydesdale Bank 40.It’s understood that Gilchrist, who was only due to play in home games for Middlesex, asked Angus Fraser, managing director of cricket at Middlesex, to play in more fixtures, which encouraged the club to hand him the captaincy while he was with the side. Neil Dexter will take over the captaincy after Gilchrist leaves, with his first game in charge being the Friends Provident t20 match away against Glamorgan on June 26.”Captaining Middlesex has been a huge honour for me,” said Udal. “There can be few better feelings than leading a team out at Lord’s and I have taken great pride in doing that over the course of the past three seasons.”Letting go of something like that is extremely difficult but Angus Fraser and I have agreed that this is the best way forward for the club. I would like to continue playing for Middlesex and will give my full support to both Adam Gilchrist and Neil Dexter.”Udal had retired from first-class cricket at the end of the 2007 season but in December of that year, aged 38, Middlesex persuaded him out of retirement with a two-year contract. Though he performed well with the ball last season, snaring 37 Championship wickets at 27.21, he has been less effective so far this year with 14 wickets at 44.14 from eight games.”Shaun cares passionately about how Middlesex performs and has worked extremely hard to turn the team in to a winning outfit but the indifferent cricket we continue to play has worn him down,” said Fraser. “Neil was identified as a worthy successor to Udal earlier in the season and he will captain the club once Adam Gilchrist leaves. Neil is an extremely impressive young man. He is a fine player and is highly respected by everyone at the club.”

A round-up of the fourth day’s action of the 2010 WCL Division One

Cricinfo staff05-Jul-2010It went down to the wire at Amstelveen as Afghanistan beat Kenya by one wicket off the final ball. Six were needed off the last over and there was further drama as Afghanistan lost their ninth wicket off the penultimate ball, but Shapoor Zadran hit the winning run to seal the game.Collins Obuya and Thomas Odoyo came good for Kenya, hitting half-centuries to take the score to 233. The captain Maurice Ouma made a patient 40 off 70 balls to help Kenya recover from a shaky 14 for 2. Obuya and Rakep Patel then added 72 for the fourth wicket before Patel was caught by Noor Ali, running forward from the boundary. Obuya made 60 before he was dismissed in the 43rd over, caught by the keeper Mohammad Shahzad off a top edge. Odoyo made a cameo unbeaten 52 off 33 balls, hitting five fours and two sixes to give the innings a late surge. Hassan was the main wicket-taker with 3 for 32.Afghanistan didn’t get off to the best of starts, losing three for 51 by the 11th over as the Odhiambos – Nelson and Nehemiah – took early wickets. Samiullah Shenwari then steadied the chase with a patient half-century, adding 72 with Azghar Stanikzai. Shem Ngoche got the breakthrough when Stanikzai edged to the keeper for 24. Afghanistan however lost the plot when they lost two more wickets in quick succession. Shenwari continued the repair work till the 41st over, before he was dismissed for 82, caught by Ouma down the leg side. Mohammad Nabi and Khaliq Dad took Afghanistan closer but Kenya hit back when Nabi’s big hit towards cow corner was taken by Patel inches off the rope.Hassan joined Dad in the 48th over and the pair almost took Afghanistan home, but Hassan succumbed to the pressure of the fielders crowding the infield, when the scores were level. The No.11 Zadran swept Jimmy Kamande past the fielders and that sparked big celebrations.Ouma, whose performance with bat and in the field won him the Man-of-the-Match award, was disappointed with the final result, but took heart from the way his team performed. “It’s very disappointing to lose a game like that especially as we gave it our all but there were plenty of positives to take from it from our side,” he said. “Collins Obuya and Thomas Odoyo batted really well and it was great to see them play so well, two senior players really leading from the front. Nehemiah Odhiambo bowled well and that is what we want from him as, together with Thomas, he is the spearhead of our attack.”In the end it was the little errors here and there that cost us and another defeat is not nice to take but there are three games left for us in this tournament and if we can continue to improve like we did today then we will be able to take plenty away from this tournament after all,” Ouma said.Ireland continued to show why they are rated the best of the Associates by picking up their third straight victory, a five-wicket win over Scotland in a low-scoring encounter in Voorburg. Kevin O’Brien was the hero for Ireland, dragging them over the finish line after the chase of 118 was floundering at 65 for 5, in the process going past 1000 ODI runs.O’Brien top scored with a patient, unbeaten 41 and was helped by opener Paul Stirling’s brisk 37 but the other four batsmen in the top six managed only three runs between them. Scotland’s hopes of remaining undefeated were dashed by an unbroken 55-run stand between O’Brien and John Mooney which took Ireland home in the 35th over.The victory was set up by the bowlers. Scotland’s top order turned in a limp performance to be at 40 for 5 in the 20th over before Neil McCallum and wicketkeeper Dougie Lockhart put on 59 runs for the sixth wicket to at least ensure a three-figure target. McCallum battled for more than two hours but once he became the seventh Scotland wicket, his side folded in a hurry. There was no one stand-out bowler for Ireland, with Trent Johnston and Nigel Jones bagging two wickets each while three others captured one apiece.O’Brien, who won the Man-of-the-Match award, was delighted with his landmark. “It is obviously an achievement. They’re all hard-fought runs against some very good teams around the world. It is a good one to know and hopefully I can just build on it for the future for the next couple of years, including the ICC Cricket World Cup next year in the subcontinent.”Gordon Drummond, the losing captain admitted the defeat was a reality check for his side and hoped to lift in the upcoming match. He said: “We knew it was a difficult wicket to bat on. I think 150 or 160 would have been an interesting chase as there would have been more pressure on the batsmen to score quicker,” Drummond said.”We got five wickets but once the ball got softer, batting became much easier. Also, the bowlers didn’t bowl consistently and missed the right areas otherwise we might have taken 10 wickets. It’s a reality check for us and I don’t think we have played as well as we can. I think the best is yet to come from us and hopefully we’ll be able to put together for the next game against Kenya,” he said.In Rotterdam, Netherlands cruised to a seven-wicket win over Canada thanks to opener Eric Szwarczynski’s unbeaten 84. Canada are still searching for their first victory after their batsmen again failed to put up a substantial total.After choosing to bat, only three of their batsmen made it to double-digits, but captain Ashish Bagai again shone with his second half-century of the tournament. Bagai was assisted by an aggressive 34 from Geoff Barnett and a 27 from No.9 Calvert Hooper as he shepherded Canada to 168 before becoming the last man to be dismissed. Mark Jonkman and Bradley Kruger were the most successful bowlers for the home side, taking three wickets each.The Netherlands chase had an early hiccup when Tom de Grooth was lbw to Hooper, but Szwarczynski compiled 91 for the second wicket with Tom Cooper to virtually end Canada’s chances. They were a couple of quick wickets in the 90s, but Bas Zuiderent’s unbeaten 35 helped Szwarczynski confirm the victory.