Dutch delight but Pothas sees positives from U19s

AN IMPRESSIVE bowling performance meant Nic Pothas was able to take plenty of positives out of Guernsey U19s' eventual six-wicket T20 defeat against the Netherlands at Port Soif.

The island's director of cricket and the sizeable crowd watching in the glorious Friday evening sunshine must have feared the worst at the halfway point, when the Sarnians had only fought and scrapped their way to 96 for eight.

It was a total that Pothas later admitted was short of the 120 or 125 he saw as par on a Port Soif wicket that proved hard to bat on. And that deficit proved to be key, as Guernsey's bowlers didn't quite have enough to work with.

After maintaining their discipline throughout the innings, they forced the Dutch all the way to the 19th over before the winning runs were hit with eight balls and those six wickets to spare.