BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – An entertaining 57 from opener Michael Swart helped the Netherlands virtually condemn the Combined Campuses & Colleges to an early exit from the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament with a 26-run victory yesterday.
Swart struck five fours and three sixes from 43 balls, as the Netherlands, choosing to bat on a hard, true Kensington Oval pitch, piled up 160 for three from their allocation of 20 overs in the 15th match of the tournament.
A purposeful bowling and fielding effort from the Netherlands then restricted the CCC to 134 for seven from their 20 overs, handing the Dutch side their first victory of the tournament and four points to boot.
Swart and fellow opener Stephan Myburgh gave the Netherlands an impressive start, putting on 70 for the first wicket inside the first eight overs. He got things moving, when he essayed two hooks off Jason Holder in the third over for six and four off successive deliveries before Myburgh swung the same bowler to deep mid-wicket for another four.
With the field restrictions applied for the Power Play overs, Swart creamed a lofted six and four off left-arm spinner Kavesh Kantasingh in the next over before Myburgh joined in the fun with a pair of fours off another left-arm spinner Yannick Ottley in the fifth over.
Myburgh smashed a six over long-on off Ryan Austin’s off-spin in the sixth over, but he fell in the ninth over, when he was caught at extra cover off Kyle Mayers for 28.
This did not stop the Dutch batsmen and Swart continued to impress with his clean hitting, reaching his 50 from 34 balls with a deuce to mid-wicket off Austin.
He put on 48 for the second wicket with Alex Kervezee before he was caught at fine leg essaying a half-hearted scoop.
Netherlands were 118 for two in the 15th over, and their captain Peter Borren flashed at a wide ball and was caught behind for 12.
The Dutch were 135 for three in the 18th over, and Mudassar Bukhari joined Kervezee and they added 25 from the last 16 balls to push their side to a competitive total.
CCC suffered an early setback, when Chadwick Walton was caught at mid-on off Tim van der Gugten for three in the second over, and stumbled to 27 for three in the sixth over.
Their captain Romel Currency had four chances in 13 before Swart, bowling off-spin, put him out of his misery, when he had him caught at fine leg from a miscued scoop.
Veteran Floyd Reifer soon followed, when he was brilliantly yorked with Mudassar’s first delivery for six. Kyle Hope linked up with Mayers for the best stand of the innings. They added 37 for the fourth wicket, but the runs were coming at a premium, the pressure mounted, and the CCC batsmen cracked. They lost their next four wickets for 71 inside the last eight overs with Pieter Seelaar finishing with two wickets for 27 runs from four overs, making him the most successful Dutch bowler. Netherlands face Jamaica in their final group match tomorrow at the same venue, where CCC meet Barbados on the same day.
