CRICKET:THERE'S SOME days when this job can give pleasure and pain for both the participants and those watching on from the sidelines.
A three-flight, 26-hour odyssey that included a harem-scarem taxi ride from Colombo Airport brought us to this Sri Lankan jungle outpost on the cricketing globe for one of the game’s strangest fixtures.
In an empty 30,000-capacity stadium, Ireland and Afghanistan are playing out an Intercontinental Cup fixture over the next four days. Strange you may think, not half as strange as the Cricket Ireland president turning up in a Tuk-Tuk.
Tut-tut may have been more apt when it came to Ireland’s batting display on the first day after winning the toss and batting on a flat track at the International Stadium.
They still finished in a strong position at 324 for seven from the 98 overs bowled on a steamy day. But with five batsmen making starts and not one converting it into three figures, they knew last night that they lost an early chance to bat the Afghans out of the match.
The morning dew may have had their bowlers anticipating some early success, but skipper William Porterfield and Gary Wilson, opening for the first time in this competition, put on 120 at a good lick before Wilson went for 54 just before lunch.
Afghanistan took advantage in the afternoon session, taking the wickets of Porterfield (78), Alex Cusack (39) and Andre Botha, for a duck, but they were still in a good position at 203 for four.
Niall O’Brien (66) and Andrew White (43) got together in a rescue act and put their side back on track with a 85-run sixth-wicket stand, only for both to fall in the last eight overs of the day as the game took another swing.
With a strong batting line-up, Ireland will start this morning with John Mooney and Trent Johnston at the crease, two players well capable of pushing the score past the 400-mark.
Coach Phil Simmons rued the fact his side let Afghanistan off the hook on an number of occasions, but remains confident Ireland can claim their first win of the present campaign as they attempt to claim a fourth-straight title.
“That’s the whole thing, we let people back into the game, we got five starts and nobody went on to make a hundred. We lost wickets at bad times, Wilson just before lunch, the captain before another break and Whitey just before the end.
“They fought back well, but after the start we got, we’re disappointed that they got so many wickets on a flat track.
“We’ve still got two main batsman there, so if we can get to 400 or close to it, then we can put pressure on them from the start with the bowling . It’s about these two putting on 50 and getting us close to 400.”
SCORECARD
Intercontinental Cup (At Dambulla, Sri Lanka). Day 1 of 4. Ireland won the toss and batted.
IRELAND:First innings
W Porterfield c Shenwari b Hasan 78
G Wilson c Hasan b Nabi 53
A Cusack c Shahzad b Shenwari 39
N O’Brien c Shahzad b Sadiq 66
A Botha st Shahzad b Shenwari 0
K O’Brien lbw Shenwari 16
A White c Sadiq b Hasan 43
J Mooney not out 5
T Johnston not out 0
Extras (lb9 nb13 w2) 24
Total (for 7 wkts, 98 ovs) 324
Fall of wickets: 1-120, 2-170, 3-203, 4-203, 5-231, 6-316, 7-323.
To Bat:G Kidd, P Connell.
Bowling:D Ahmadzai 10-2-19-0; S Zadran 8-1-22-0 0; H Hasan 19-3-77-2; N Ali 2-0-21-0; M Nabi 24-3-90-1; S Shenwari 20-4-55-3; K Sadiq 13-5-24-1; N Mangal 2-0-7-0.
