Ireland continued their pre-WCQ preparations on a positive note as they managed to withstand a tough challenge from Netherlands at Groenkloof Oval in Pretoria, South Africa.
After Ireland managed to restrict Netherlands to 264/7 in their 50 overs, the batters chased the target by reaching 265/5 to win the contest by 5 wickets.
Dutch innings rallied around stellar knocks by Ben Cooper (73 off 101) and Roelof van der Merwe (63 off 54), and after the early barrage from Wesley Barresi (41 off 40), Irish bowlers were able to keep a check on the run-scoring by picking up regular wickets at crucial junctures in the match.
Couple of cameos down the order by Pieter Seelaar (27 n.o off 32) and Timm van der Gugten (15 n.o off 12) took Netherlands to their final total on board.
Boyd Rankin (4/39) and Andy McBrine (2/57) were the pick of the bowlers for Ireland.
The Irish chase was orchestrated by superb knocks by Andrew Balbirnie (97 off 105) and Gary Wilson (89 off 65) as the duo stitched up a vital partnership to steer the chase.
For Netherlands, Maxwell O’Dowd put aside his disappointment with the bat as he dismissed both Balbirnie and Wilson during their bowling innings.
