A rainy day washed out the World T20 qualifying match between Oman and the Netherlands at the HPCA Stadium here on Friday and exposed the shortcomings in the format of the International Cricket Council (ICC) event.
Rain continued to play spoilsport as the second qualifying match of the day between Ireland and Bangladesh at the same venue here was also called off.
The washouts meant that both Ireland and the Netherlands crashed out of contention for a place in the main draw.
Disappointment was writ large on Dutch captain Peter Borren’s face.
“It's a pretty emotional dressing room. Guys have put a lot of work into this campaign. It began a year or so ago starting with the first part of the qualifier in Ireland and Scotland.
“We shared that trophy and played some really good cricket. We sit here now after playing three hours of cricket against Bangladesh, where we came up short. It's extremely disappointing,” said Borren.
The Netherlands captain said there was need to revisit the format — which made six associate members who came through a qualification process to go through another set of qualifiers — and including the possibility of having reserve days.
“If it was done a bit differently we would not have been to a qualifying tournament.
“Right now the feeling is absolutely devastated. It's just a cruel, cruel place to be. I wish we could find those nine runs somewhere from the other night.” Borren rued the lack of enough exposure for associate teams. “I am getting older but it's pretty hard to tell younger guys that there might be another opportunity if we get really, really good cricket over three-four years. It's pretty tough.”
Even though Oman, which was full of confidence after its sensational win over Ireland the other night, still had a chance of making it to the main draw, its captain Sultan Ahmed was disheartened to miss a chance to strengthen his team's position.
The hill station woke up to an overcast morning and a fresh layer of snow on the majestic Dhauladhar mountains to scare the small cricketing nations competing in the qualifiers here. Rain continued throughout the day posing a real threat to the matches.
Despite the gloomy conditions, Oman and the Netherlands managed to complete the formalities of the toss, with the Gulf country choosing to field. However, rain forced the umpires to call off the match at 4.50 p.m. The Bangladesh-Ireland contest started almost two hours behind schedule.
However, the duel got halted by rain when Bangladesh, after having been put in, was at 94 for two in eight overs. Bangladesh has three points from two outings after sharing honours with Ireland. The Irish side managed one point from two matches. Oman also collected three points following its abandoned match against the Netherlands and would meet Bangladesh on Sunday in a do-or-die fixture.
The scores: Bangladesh 94 for two in eight overs (Tamim Iqbal 47) vs Ireland (match abandoned).
