CRICKET INTERNATIONAL CUP:YESTERDAY WAS Black Friday here, so-called for the roads that clog up as the locals start their summer holidays. It is an event, of course, we celebrate every week back home.
The Dutch team looked like they were keen to get away early and beat the rush themselves as Ireland closed in on full points in their Intercontinental Cup clash at the VOC Grounds.
Having declared their first innings on 400 for six, Ireland went about bowling the Dutch out for just 127 in their first innings, before enforcing the follow-on and reducing the home side to 49 for three at the end of a day that saw 15 wickets fall, all but two of them for the home side.
It looked as though the Twelfth of July had come a day early as a steady stream of orange-clad batsmen were sent marching back to the pavilion.
The two piebald pigeons that pecked away at the square hung around longer than most of their batsmen, with only a 38-run stand for the last wicket between skipper Jeroen Smits and Pieter Seelaar saving them from their worst score in the competition.
Peter Connell proved Ireland's bowling hero in the first innings, taking four wickets for 41.
It was a fine comeback for the New Zealand-born player, who went for 95 off nine overs against the country of his birth in his ODI debut last week in Aberdeen.
Ireland did shell a few in the field, with Andrew Poynter guilty on more than one occasion, but they made up for it with a few beauties.
Gary Wilson took two stunners behind the stumps off Connell to get rid of the dangerous Daan van Bunge and Edgar Szwarczynski, while Poynter made up for his earlier blunders with a fine take to dismiss Peter Borren off his Clontarf club-mate Alex Cusack.
Gary Kidd's effort, off his own bowling, was particularly impressive in the poor light, sticking out his right hand when the ball looked like decapitating umpire Paul Baldwin.
Connell went on to claim his fifth wicket of the day to start the Dutch decline in the second innings, bowling Tom de Grooth for eight.
The day started on a sombre note as Ireland's players and officials observed a minute's silence in the memory of team-mate Andrew White's mother, Elizabeth, who passed away on Thursday night.
They batted on for 22 overs before declaring, adding 104 runs to their overnight total. Andre Botha finally went for 172, the wicketkeeper taking the catch from a lifting delivery to give Mudasser Bukhari his fourth wicket.
The 32-year-old's form in this competition is stunning, the North County player having scored 556 runs in his last five knocks at an average of 131.
