Spain entered the seond day of the competition looking for a clean sweep and their first opponents of the day were a Cataluyna XI.

Again Jimmy Morgan was the captain of the day, and Spain made one change from the previous day with Joel Broo coming in for Mark Spencer, who had work commitments.

Conditions were somehat better than the day before, with glimpses of sunshine in between the grey clouds that threatened rain. Cataluyna won the toss and decided to bat. The Catalans got off to a great start and were 39 for 0 wicket after just 5 overs.

A change in tactics by Spanish coach Bobby Denning and skipper Morgan saw the early introduction of the slower bowlers and  this change paid off immediately with Sajid getting Abisheikh caught by Shoaib on the long on boundary.

With the crucial fall of the first wicket the momentum was slowed and the Catalans struggled to hit the slower bowlers off the wicket. Coupled with this was the regular fall of wickets at regular intervals and by the time the Madrid bowler Irshad Khan was introduced to the attack in the 15th over the Catalans were struggling at 86 for 5. The last ten overs had only produced 47 runs thanks to the excellence of Farhat, Sajid, Munoz Mills and Akmal.

Irshad Khan continued were the others had left off and bowled three tidy overs of left arm seam over the wicket to end with the enviable figures of 3 for 15. It was then left to Talat to ball the final over and the tenth wicket of the Catalans fell with the score on 117 when Mohib was clean bowled for 6 with 3 balls of the Catalan left to bowl.  

Spain looked to get off to a better start than yesterday but for the second successive day Tariq got a golden duck, this time being cleaned bowled by Mohib. A tight run out of  the other opener Sajid in the 4th over and then the dismissal of Morgn in the same over saw the Spanish stuttering at 20 for 3.

Crompton and Tanveer should the middle order of Spain is much more resolute than it once was and the pair shared in a match winning 96 run partnership before Crompton gloved one to the wicket keeper with just two runs required.

Ironically, it was left to Shafique Ali, the Cataluyna league player to hit the winning run when he blasted a six off Raof with 1.4 overs to spare. The victory moved Spain to the top of the Tournament table with 2 wins and 1 no result from their 3 games.  

SPAIN V CATALUYNA - SPAIN WON BY 6 WICKETS

CATALUYNA

Abhisheikh Ct Shoaib B Sajid 8

Riaz Ct Morgan B Sajid 24

Adnan Ct Tariq B Munoz 14

Javed Ct Farhat B Khan 29

Safdar Ct Shafique B Sajid 10

Safraz Ct Tanveer B Akmal 0

Sedhi Ct Munoz B Khan 6

Bindhar Ct Shafique B Talat 0

Raof Ct Tanveer B Khan 2

Raj Not Out 1

Mohib Bowled Talat 6

Extras 16

Total 117 all out off 19.3 overs

FOW 1-41, 2-51, 3-64, 4-71. 5-83, 6-98, 7-102, 8-110, 9-110, 10-117

SPAIN BOWLING

Tanveer 2-0-21-0

Talat 3.3-0-27-2

Sajid 4-0-15-3

Farhat 4-0-18-0

C Munoz 1-0-2-1

Akmal 2-0-18-1

I Khan 3-0-15-3

SPAIN BATTING

Tariq Ali Bowled Mohib 0

Sajid Run Out 4

J Morgan Ct ? Bowled Raof 4

G Crompton Ct ? B Safraz 36

T Iqbal Not Out 52

Shafique Ali Not Out 6

J Brook Dnb

C Munoz Dnb

I Khan Dnb

Akmal Dnb

Talat Dnb

Extras 21

Total 123 for 4

FOW 1-0, 2-19, 3-20, 4-116

CATALUYNA BOWLING

Mohib 4-0-16-1

Raof 3.2-0-29-1

Safraz 3-0-18-1

Raj 4-0-28-0

Goldy 4-0-28-0

SPAIN WIN BY 6 WICKETS

The second match of day saw Spain entertain Belgium. The Belgiums, coached by ex Surrey and England player Jack Richards proved a different proposition second time around. From the off they looked more purposeful and intent on gaining revenge for yesterdays defeat over their affiliate neighbours.

Having won the toss the visitors folowed common practice and decided to bat. The opening duo of Talat and Tanveer for Spain did manage to make a breakthrough in their opening spell, (Tanveer having Sheikh caught with the score on 20) but they didn´t bowl with their usual vigour and hostility.

Belgium had notable contributions from Butt (54), Javed (31) and Khan (21) as their middle order punished the Spanish bowling attack. By the end of their allocated twenty overs the visitors had posted the best score of the tournament, finishing with 161 for 7

Spain, looking sluggish in all departments batted poorly in trying to chase down this total. Cheap wickets fell to silly shots and the writing was on the wall for La Seleccion well before the final over. Indeed, only three Spaniards managed to score double figures as their innings whimpered to 96 all out 1.5 overs to spare.

The final game of the tournament saw the Belgians again experiment, and again they fell victim of under-estimating Cataluyna as the Catalans won the final match of the tournament confortably. Despite the inclement weather both countries managed to get some much needed time together as they start to implement their plans for next seasons ICC Europe Division two Twenty20 championship that will take place in Belgium next summer.

FINAL TOURNAMENT TABLE

Spain         P4 W2 L1 NR 1 25 points

Cataluyna   P4 W2 L1 NR 1 25 points

Belgium      P4 W2 L2 NR 0 20 points

SPAIN V BELGIUM SCORECARD

BELGIUM

S Sheikh Ct Tariq B Iqbal 3

S Khan Ct Vine B Sajid 24

J Iqbal Bowled Tariq

S Butt Ct Morgan B Iqbal 54

S Newport Run Out 10

A Rehman Ct Sajid B I Khan 12

S Mohammed Bowled I Khan 4

A Semhi Not Out 5

Mahesh Not Out 6

S Shukla Dnb

W Shafiq Dnb

FOW 1-20, 2-48, 3-97, 4-125, 5-144, 6-148, 7-150

SPAIN BOWLING

T Iqbal 4-0-25-2

T Ali 4-0-27-0

C Munoz 2-0-16-0

Sajid Ali 2-0-13-1

Tariq Ali 4-0-40-1

F Mahmood 3-0-22-0

I Khan 1-0-14-2

SPAIN BATTING

Sajid Ali Run Out 2

Tariq Ali Ct and Bowled S Khan 12

J Morgan Ct Rehman B Faisal 20

G Crompton Ct Semhi B Rehman 15

T Iqbal Ct Rehman B Faisal 0

F Mahmood Ct Semhi B Faisal 9

Shafique Ct Newport B Iqbal 6

I Khan Ct Semhi B Faisal 2

C Munoz Ct Mahesh B Newport 3

Shoaib Ct Mahesh B Newport 7

Talat Ali Not Out 3

Extras 18

Total 96 all out off 18.1 overs

FOW 1-15, 2-32, 3-43, 4-44, 5-51, 6-71, 7-74, 8-78, 9-89, 10-96

BELGIUM BOWLING

S Khan 3-0-22-1

S Mohammed 3-0-11-0

A Rehman 3-0-26-1

Faisal 4-0-22-4

J Iqbal 3-0-12-1

S Newport 1.1-0-2-2

BELGIUM WON BY 65 RUNS

Coach Bobby Denning´s thoughts on the weekend...

"The weekend has provided us with good opposition and with our two wins out of 3 it added momentum following our win against the MCC. My aim from the weekend was to try a similar batting line up over the 3 games and to ensure we used our main bowlers over the 3 games. Whilst the structure to the squad looked similar over the 3 games, based on the limited contact time I have with the players, its important that we start to see what this may look like, as opposed to trying too many different combinations and still being unclear after the 3 games. We have shown that we have a squad capable of winning the competition and whilst we need to be flexible, a number of things things are begining to take shape in terms of the possible squad and the tactical approaches that we will employ.
 
We were disappointed in the manner in which we bowled in our last game defeat against Belgium having bowled well in the powerplay and up to the halfway point. Our lines and lengths were poor between the 10th and 15th over, though we tightened things up in the last 5 overs. A lack of application and soft dismissals on our part lead to us being being well short in our run chase.
 
Our specific "Team Focus Points" were the focus for my observations over the 3 games and it was particularly pleasing that we hit most of our targets in the first game and sustained and improved where necessary in our 2nd game. These "Team Focus Points" will continue to be our focus in games and practice.
 
The squad for the next Years ICC T20 will be named by the 1st April 2011 and in the meantime we will continue to work with the squad of 18 before we name the final 14. Competition for places is healthy and some tough decisions will need to be made. The current squad is confident that we can win the competition which makes eveything that we have implemented all the more important. Its exciting times to be involved with the squad. Its a happy dressing room and I look forward to keeping the momentum going in the New Year"           
 

Bobby Denning
Head Coach

 


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