ICC Europe Division 2 Scotland 2006

Germany v Guernsey
European Championship Division Two 2006 (Group 1)
Venue Titwood, Glasgow on 5th August 2006 (50-over match)
Balls per over 6
Toss Germany won the toss and decided to bat
Result Germany won by 58 runs
Points Germany 2; Guernsey 0
Umpires M Hawthorne (Ireland), Sanjeev Kad
Scorer J Avery

——————————————————————————–

Germany innings    RunsBallsMins4s6sSR Guernsey bowlingOvMdnRunsWktsWNbSRER
Asif KhancLe PrevostbQueripel1018191-55.56Savident101510235.1
Farooq AhmedbRich53558510196.36Queripel712711-423.9
Abdul Salam BhatticandbRich48871096-55.17Moherndl30180--6.0
*D SenguptabBanerjee058--0Banerjee10043222304.3
R VohracOliverbBanerjee457087--64.29Rich1004823-304.8
†Ayub Pashanotout4451612-86.27Frith101450--4.5
Zaheer Ahmedrunout1156--220.0
R Bussnotout001--
Javed Iqbaldnb
Hamid Mahmooddnb
Ehsan Latifdnb
Extras (b2, lb9, w13, nb5)32
Total (for 6 wickets in 50 overs)243
Fall of wickets
1-26(Asif Khan),2-97(Farooq Ahmed),3-102(Sengupta),4-137(Abdul Salam Bhatti),5-225(Vohra),6-242(Zaheer Ahmed)

Guernsey innings    RunsBallsMins4s6sSR Germany bowlingOvMdnRunsWktsWNbSRER
L SavidentstAyub PashabJaved4321-133.33Javed822143-122.6
M L JefferiescAyub PashabJaved01525--0Ehsan Latif904015-544.4
A A BanerjeecandbHamid841271587-66.14Zaheer Ahmed602904-4.8
J D J FrithbJaved4914--44.44Farooq Ahmed7.41291--443.9
*S E Le PrevostbEhsan4982974159.76Hamid Mahmood1013341-153.3
†M OliverbHamid85141-160.0Buss50270--5.4
R J VeillardstAyub PashabHamid3611--50.0
J A J NussbaumerstAyub PashabHamid011--0
G J RichcHamid MahmoodbFarooq31018--30.0
K B MoherndlcAyub PashabJaved811.071-72.73
S P Queripelnotout233--66.67
Extras (b4, lb2, w14, nb0)20
Total (in 45.4 overs)185
Fall of wickets
1-6(Savident),2-15(Jefferies),3-26(Banerjee),4-155(Frith),5-169(Le Prevost),6-170(Oliver),7-170(Nussbaumer),8-173(Veillard),9-183(Moherndl),10-185(Rich)

PREVIEW

‘Security remains a problem’    by Aaron Scoones

What is widely being called the ‘Israeli Situation’ is causing serious problems for the organisers of the ECC European Championships. The Glasgow Stop the War Coalition and representatives of the local Lebanese community plan to hold a mass demonstration at Israel’s match against Norway at Old Anniesland today. To combat potential disruption the tournament organisers are juggling fixtures around because of the security issues.

The Weir Club that was due to host Israel’s match with Jersey on Wednesday had received phone calls and letters of protest in the run up to the fixture. When demonstrators turned up at the same ground a day later only to discover Israel’s game had been replaced by Guernsey v Gibraltar. Strathclyde police retained two policemen at the ground for the majority of the day. The Israeli team themselves are keeping a low profile at the hotel where all the squads are staying. Security is tight around the Israelis. They received a police escort whenever they leave the premises. But despite the political furore relationships between Israel and the other countries involved is very good. When they flew into Glasgow from Heathrow for the tournament, Norway were on the same plane. The Norwegian team is 100% Asian and both sets of players shook hands when they landed. ‘Cricket has always been a sport that brings together people of cultural diversity and that’s why its a tragedy that this tournament had been disrupted before it had even begun,’ said the event manager, Mike Stanger.

Meanwhile the Guernsey squad have been instructed by the ECC not to comment at all on the Israeli situation. Only management are permitted to speak and on their day off yesterday none of the Sarnian hierarchy was prepared to say anything on the security question. Guernsey play Germany today at Clydesdale Cricket Club and manager Dave Hearse has made three changes to the team that beat Gibraltar by seven wickets on Thursday. Andy Biggins is rested and hands the captain’s arm band to Cobo’s Stuart Le Prevost. Pierre Moody and Mark Jefferies also step down, while Richard Veillard and bowlers Steve Queripel and Kris Moherndl all come in. ‘Pierre has stiff calves and Biggsy has a stiff back,’ said Hearse. ‘They will now have two sessions of physio before tomorrow’s game bit I want people to be able to have match experience so that we can call on them if need be in the later stages.’

MATCH

‘Germany leave us stumped’    by Aaron Scoones

Usually a 129-run partnership between Ami Banerjee and Stuart Le Prevost would lead to a Guernsey victory. But that was not to be the case when the island, after beating Gibraltar two days before, took on Germany in their second group match. The problem was that their third-wicket stand came about with their team in serious trouble at 26 for three chasing Germany’s very useful 243 at Clydesdale Cricket Club.

At one point the pair looked as if they might pull off a stunning win for the greens but these hopes fell flat when Banerjee and then captain Le Prevost went with the score on 169. ‘Our bowling and fielding were not up to the usual high standards,’ said Le Prevost afterwards. ‘They batted well and we just bowled a little short to them and they used the pace on the ball. Ami batted very well and it was good to get a partnership together but when one of us went it was very difficult for a new batsman to come in,’ he added.

On a green strip, Le Prevost, who was standing in for the rested Andy Biggins, put the Germans in to bat after winning the toss. It soon became evident, however, that the wicket was not going to be as bowler-friendly as first thought, as the German openers, Asif Khan and Paroq Ahmed, started to tuck into Steve Queripel and Lee Savident, who took the new ball for Guernsey. But Khan, before he really started to get going, nailed a Queripel delivery to Le Prevost who took a very comfortable catch. This brought to the wicket Abdul Bhatti who, after surviving a big shout of lbw, carried on where Khan left off.

The ex-German captain immediately hooked Savident for four. Kris Moherndl was brought on to replace Savident as the batsmen continued to tuck in and, in his first over, the ball kissed Bhatti’s off stump but remarkably did not dislodge the bails. It even left a cherry mark. The 18-year-old seamer received some tap as he was taken off after three overs that went for 18 runs.

It was all or nothing for the German pair as they looked to play big shots and to leave the singles. Ahmed gave a chance when he looked to flick Banerjee’s first ball through the leg side but got a leading edge that just eluded Jamie Nussbaumer at cover.

When Gary Rich eventually came on in the 20th over, possibly a few too late, the left-handed Ahmed went on to reach his 50 by launching the veteran Cobo bowler for a big six into the pavilion and then the following two balls for four. But after lifting his bat to acknowledge his enthusiastic teammates, who seemed intent on shouting encouragement after every delivery, he was bowled next ball by a quicker delivery from the spinner.

In came Germany’s best bat and captain Debanik Sengupta to begin an interesting tussle with his former Indian state team mate, Banerjee, who was on for Guernsey with the ball. But it was Banerjee who came out on top when he bowled Sengupta for a duck with the score on 102 in the 23rd over. Bhatti departed 15 runs later after he was caught and bowled by Rich but this mini-revival by the Sarnians was short-lived, as Rajiv Vohra and Mohammed Pasha went about building a total for their side.

Whereas their early batsmen had looked to hit fours, the quick-footed pair were constantly looking for the single with hit-and-run tactics. This caught out Guernsey’s close infielders too many times and not one direct throw hit the target. Vohra and Pasha got their team over the 200 mark in the 44th over but the 21-year-old Vohra went a couple of overs later for 45. Zaheer Ahmed came in and hit a couple of fours in his 11 as Germany set 243.

This was possibly 20 runs short on the small ground but Guernsey were certainly not thinking that as they soon found themselves 26 for three. In the first over bowled by the impressive Javed Iqbal, Savident hit a sublime on-drive for four. Next ball Savident was slowly trudging back to the dressing room. He very briefly overbalanced trying to hit a leg-side wide and was stumped by Pasha who was standing up. Next to go was Mark Jefferies who went for a 15-ball duck and Guernsey were really in the mire when, a few overs later, Frith misjudged one from Iqbal that knocked back his off stump when he offered no shot.

With their tails up Germany fancied ramming home their advantage but Banerjee and Le Prevost denied them. The pair dug deep and took their time but slowly and surely they started to build up the runs. Le Prevost was particularly strong off his legs. He hit a delightful six off Faroq Ahmed over mid-wicket while Banerjee was nice and correct with shots around the wicket. He survived one scare when he went sown on one knee to sweep Hamid Mahmood’s left-arm spin and was hit on the pad. The Germans unleashed one of their elaborate appeals and umpire Hawthorn’s arm twitched but the finger did not go up. The fourth-wicket pair’s 100 partnership came in the 31st over and a Sarnian win started to look on the cards. But with Le Prevost on 49 and looking to push things along, he lost the top of his off stump to Eskan Latif’s left-arm pace. Banerjee, who was struggling to find the gaps by this stage, followed 14 runs later when he chipped a caught and bowled back to Mahmood. The Indian had got 84.

When the big-hitting Matt Oliver, coming in at six, went, bowled by Mahmood, and then Richard Veillard and Jamie Nussbaumer were both brilliantly stumped by Pasha, the match was effectively over. Pasha’s outstanding performance behind the stumps earned him a well-deserved man-of-the-match award. ‘The keeper is amazing, he does that all the time,’ said his captain, Sengupta. ‘I’m definitely very pleased with the win. We were under a lot of pressure. It was a must-win game for us. If we had lost we were going home. We were put in on a green top and the boys showed a lot of character.’