Afghanistan clinch low-scoring thriller in ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009/10

Afghanistan 107 (Mangal 41*) and 209 for 9 (Ali 56, Shenwari 25*, Hassan 1*, Schiferli 5-57) beat Netherlands 181 (de Grooth 54, Hassan 4-45, Nabi 4-52) and 132 (Borren 63, Ashraf 4-24, Zadran 4-28) by one wicket
Scorecard

The rise of Afghanistan's cricketing fortunes continues unabated. Four months after they qualified for ODI status in South Africa, they have won their maiden first-class match as an international country by stunning Netherlands, a side far more experienced, with a remarkably tense one-wicket win at Amstelveen.

The rain-affected match was so dominated by the ball that it was some surprise the match lasted as long as it did, but not even Edgar Schiferli's five-wicket haul was enough to prevent a gripping, successful run-chase by Afghanistan.

Afghanistan are a country still at war, and are continually reliant on benevolence by charities and organisations such as MCC, who have helped provide equipment, training and pitches to schools in rural communities. They remain highly inexperienced, raw and rusty. But as their barnstorming performance in the World Cup Qualifiers earlier this year suggested, they are never to be underestimated.

The day commenced with Afghanistan requiring 168 runs to win, with eight wickets to spare, on a pitch that had troubled all the batsmen, but Ali and Nowroz Mangal set about the task well. They added 23 to the over-night total, before Mangal (19) was caught by Wesley Barresi having a go at a wide delivery from Mark Jonkman. The wicket brought Asghar Stanikzai to the crease, who began to build a further sturdy partnership with Ali, as Afghanistan began to take control.

The pair put on 49 for the fourth wicket, edging within a hundred of the target, before Schiferli - Man-of-the-Series in April's World Cup Qualifiers tournament - managed to find the edge of Ali's bat caught behind for a well earned 56.

Stanikzai soon followed - late onto a delivery from Seelaar which kept low and shot on to hit the base of his middle stump for 26. Mohammed Nabi didn't make much of an impact either, as he miscued a drive off Peter Borren, providing Schiferli with an easy catch, and departing for 9. By lunch, the match was hanging in the balance with Afghanistan needing a further 64 with four wickets remaining, having battled back into contention.

With prospects of an exciting afternoon ahead for the crowd at Amstelveen, the visitors restarted by adding a further 18 runs before they lost Raees Ahmadzai, an agriculturally-effective free-swinging batsman, for 26. He edged to Barresi in the slips, who took an outstanding catch to maintain the pressure on Afghanistan.

Netherlands tight bowling attack pinned down Mirwais Ashraf and Samiullah Shenwari, making runs very hard to come by, but they stuck in there, scoring in ones and twos.

With Afghanistan edging nearer their target, Netherlands found the breakthrough they were after, as Ashraf was finally removed by a diving catch by Mudassar Bukhari off Schiferli for 31. This left Shenwari and Shapoor Zadran with the nerve-racking task of scoring the remaining 10 runs, facing the aggressive bowling of a pumped-up Schiferli.

By this stage, even defensive strokes were being cheered by the Afghanistan contingent from the sidelines. And with only six runs required, Zadran (1) failed to offer a shot as Schiferli wrapped him on his back pad to claim his fifth wicket, leaving the match on a knife-edge.

But Shenwari threw his hands at a Bukhari delivery, the ball slashing over the slips for four as Afghanistan snatched an unlikely victory, their first in the Intercontinental Cup, and another significant achievement for a country so new to the international fold.

Ponting open to Clarke handling ODI, Twenty20 captaincy

Australian captain Ricky Ponting is open to the idea of handing deputy Michael Clarke the leadership responsibilities for the Twenty20 and one-day teams, and preserving himself for Test cricket.

Clarke, 28, has already captained Australia in 11 limited overs and two Twenty20 internationals while Ponting has been rested or injured. He was installed as Test vice-captain after the retirement of Adam Gilchrist, and led all Australian batsmen with 448 runs at 64.00 during the 2009 Ashes series.

Ponting assumed the one-day leadership in 2002 while Steve Waugh was still at the helm of the Test side. The pair shared the captaincy until Waugh's retirement from Test cricket in 2004. Ponting has been the first-choice captain of Australia's Test, ODI and Twenty20 sides ever since.

"If that's the way that I or others outside of what I'm thinking decide (is) the right way to go, there's absolutely no reason why that couldn't happen," Ponting said of splitting the captaincy with Clarke. "It has happened in the past with Australian teams. It is happening with other teams around the world right at the moment.

"Paul Collingwood is captain of the England Twenty20 team and Andrew Strauss is captain of the one-day and Test cricket teams. Those things are things that need to be thought long and hard about, but if it means that I'm going to be better off for Test matches and bigger series when they come around..."

Ponting returned to Sydney on Wednesday after becoming the first Australian captain since Billy Murdoch to twice surrender the Ashes in England. The defeat at Lord's ensured Australia the added ignominy of slipping to fourth place on the ICC Test rankings, having lost three of their past five series.

Australia's transitional issues have led to calls from certain sections of the local media for Ponting's axing as captain, however he has reaffirmed his desire to play on until the 2013 Ashes series.

"Having a pretty bitter and sour taste in my mouth at the end of that Test match, I'd love to be able to go back and give it one more crack," he said. "I've got to worry about the next 12 or 18 months and see if all that hunger or commitment is still there. It's probably higher right now than ever before. Who knows, 2013 might be something achievable."

"I still think I've got a lot to offer the team, as a batsman and as a captain and as a leader. If it ends up getting to the point where I'm not the captain, my hunger and determination to keep playing this game are as good as ever.

"If that's with a 'c' next to my name, all well and good. If it's not, I still think I have a lot to offer, particularly a lot of younger guys who are around our set-up at the moment."