Day 4 of the Scandic Cricket Challenge Series and it was business as usual for the new look Danish A team as they raced to a 78 run victory against the ever improving Finland side here in Brøndby.
Bright sunshine and another perfect batting surface greeted the home team, as they again won the toss and decided to bat. The ‘young Danes’ raced away to a fantastic start as inform batsman Kamran Mahmood 49 and Ali Ahktar 21 managed to amass an impressive 70 for the opening wicket. However it was at this point that things went to go a little against the game plan, as a combination of bad stroke-play and shot selection, as well as some suicidal run outs contributed to the Danes only compiling 175 all out in just 41 overs! For the visitors Zakiullah Kamal was the pick of the bowlers with his 4 for 30, and he was well supported by Obaidullah Sadiqui 2 for 26. Special mention again must go to Denmark’s Zameer Khan for his stylish 45 runs, but again the aggressive right hander fell short of what should have been a much bigger target.
In reply the Finn’s were again in early trouble against the pace and accuracy of Sair Anjum 3 for 26 and flight and guile of Suleman Arshad 4 for 29. This was again backed up by some outstanding fielding by the home side, but it was not all plain sailing. Once again Obaidullah Sadiqui 23 and Ekhpelwak Kuchey 18 set about increasing the run rate and the tempo of the match. However, the introduction of Mohsin Ali 3 for 22 quickly put Denmark back into the ascension as the visitors were dismissed for just 91 in 31 overs.
National Team assistant coach, Scott O’Brien, was pleased with the result but again felt that there was still room for improvement, “I was again pleased with the partnerships our batters put together today, we must continue to work hard in all aspects of our batting, but in particular our running between the wickets and shot selection. Once again our bowling attack led the way in our second innings, Sair Anjum and Suleman Arshad were outstanding today, as was Mohsin Ali. We must not sit on our laurels however, and the improvements made this week must be continued into the future mate!.”