Netherlands oust Ireland in sixes 'feast' at World T20

(MENAFN- Arab Times) Lhet bangladesh march 21 (afp): the netherlands smashed the record for most sixes in an innings on their way to upsetting ireland in sylhet on friday romping into the super-10 stages in the world twenty20. wesley barresi hit tim murtagh over mid-wicket for the 19th six of the innings to seal an emphatic six wicket win as the netherlands chased down a daunting 190-run target in just 13.5 overs

their rampaging victory means the netherlands qualify for the super-10 from group b at the expense of more fancied zimbabwe and ireland. they join group one in the next round.

in all 30 sixes were hit in the match beating the previous record of 24 set by new zealand and india at christchurch in 2009. australia previously held the record for most sixes in a twenty20 innings with 18 smashed against england at southampton last year. the netherlands needed to notch the target in 14.2 overs and they owed their exhilarating chase to a fiery 23-ball 63 by opener stephan myburgh 15-ball 45 by tom cooper and an unbeaten 22-ball 40 by barresi. the defeat was a heartbreak for ireland who beat zimbabwe in their opening match but they failed to stop the rampaging dutch led by myburgh.

myburgh was in a punishing mood as he smashed three sixes in off-spinner andy mcbrine's second over of the innings and then as many sixes and one boundary in one alex cusack's over. he then brought up his second twenty20 fifty in the event with a sweetly timed boundary off tim murtagh off just 17 deliveries. the left-hander equalled the second fastest t20 fifty set by rival opener paul stirling hit against afghanistan in dubai two years ago. the record for the fastest t20 fifty is held by india's yuvraj singh who hit a 12-ball fifty against england in durban in 2007.

myburgh who smashed seven sixes and four boundaries finally holed out off george dockrell at deep mid-wicket boundary with the total at 98. cooper carried on from where myburgh left off hitting four sixes off dockrell's 11th over. cooper's innings had six sixes and a boundary. winning captain peter borren felt for his rivals. 'i am sad for ireland' said borren. 'they played very well for 2.5 games. ireland captain william porterfield admitted his team fell short. ireland had raced to their second highest twenty20 total of 189-4 with stocky andrew poynter hitting a 38-ball 57 while kevin o'brien knocked a whirlwind 16-ball 42 to punish a hapless dutch attack.

poynter hit four sixes ? three in one michael swart's over ? along with four boundaries while kevin's knock had four towering sixes and two boundaries. together the two added a quickfire 101 off just 45 balls to give real impetus to the irish innings. poynter hit two boundaries and then took a single off timm van der gugten to reach his maiden t20 fifty off just 27 balls. he holed out off the last delivery of the final over. porterfield hit a 32-ball 47 while ed joyce chipped in with a 25-ball 28.

brief scores

ireland 189-4 in 20 overs (a. poynter 57 w. porterfield 47 k. o'brien 42 not out; ahsan malik 2-26

the netherlands 193-4 in 13.5 overs (s. myburgh 63 t. cooper 45 a. barresi 40 not out

the netherlands win by six wickets. earlier allrounder elton chigumbura struck a fiery half-century to help zimbabwe achieve a five-wicket win over united arab emirates in sylhet on friday keeping their hopes of reaching the next round alive. chigumbura smashed three sixes and six boundaries in his 21-ball 53 not out to lift zimbabwe from a struggling 34-4 and surpass a modest 117-run target in 13.4 overs.

the win also lifted zimbabwe's net run-rate over ireland who face the netherlands in the crucial match to decide which team qualifies for the super-10 stage from group b. zimbabwe's best batsman skipper brendan taylor also managed just 15. taylor praised his team especially chigumbura. uae captain khurram khan showed disappointment after their third loss of the tournament. the uae owed their total to a 58-run third wicket stand between khan (26) and swapnil patil (30) before left-arm spinner williams took a career best 3-15 in four overs.

the uae lost their way before a ninth wicket stand of 27 between shadeep silva (13 not out) and kamran shahzad (21) lifted them to 116-9 in their 20 overs. sikander raza (2-15) and tendai chatara (2-21) were also among the wicket takers for zimbabwe. zimbabwe have now two wins out of three games while ireland have two wins out of two and the netherlands one win out of two matches.

brief scores

uae 116-9 (swapnil patil 30 khurran khan 26; s. williams 3-15

zimbabwe 118-5 in 13.4 overs (e. chigumbura 56 not out; m. guruge 2-18

zimbabwe win by five wickets.