By Andy Wilson
Saif Zaib, Martin Andersson and Eddie Barnes, from Northamptonshire, Middlesex and Yorkshire respectively, were picked out for special praise after the England Development Programme’s Under-17s won the last game of their one-day series against Pakistan with a fine team performance in Dubai today.
Zaib, a 16-year-old from High Wycombe who made his Northamptonshire debut against New Zealand last summer, scored a run-a-ball 88 and shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 150 with Andersson as England recovered from a poor start to post 225 for nine in their 50 overs.
Then Barnes, a seamer who plays for Sheriff Hutton on the outskirts of York, took 3-18 from nine overs to set the tone for a bowling performance in which Surrey’s Sam Curran, Worcestershire’s Ben Twohig and captain Max Holden each took two wickets.
Holden’s performance secured the player of the series award for the England team which was decided by the Pakistan management.
Pakistan, who had won the first two games of the three-match series, were all out for 155 in the 45th over as England completed a convincing 70-run victory in a game that was delayed by 24 hours because of the sandstorms in Dubai.
“Today's victory represents the hard work that all of the players have put in since arriving out here,” said Head Coach Iain Brunnschweiler. “They have continued to adapt to the conditions and become more and more consistent in their delivery of their skills.
“Saif Zaib and Martin Andersson's partnership was absolutely superb. Both players knew it was going to be tough up front and they needed to play strong shots in order to get in, whilst still being positive.
"Once they had done the hard work, they both played intelligently and expanded their scoring options accordingly. Their platform set up an excellent total of 225, which I was really pleased with.
“The response in the field was equally good, with Eddie Barnes epitomising our approach with his relentless spells of bowling, picking up wickets at a miserly rate. He was well backed up by Ben Twohig, Max Holden and Sam Curran, as well as with some good fielding.
“It's a shame that today was not the one-day series decider after our narrow loss on Thursday, but we have continued to improve throughout the trip which is really encouraging.”
The EDP squad complete their tour with a three-day match against Pakistan which starts on Tuesday.
