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.
With the match being called off without a ball being bowled, disappointment was writ large on Dutch captain Peter Borren’s face as his team has almost lost the race for a berth in the main draw.
“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.
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