The Holland Touring Friends proved to be worthy opponents last weekend at Marsa as has been the case with other Dutch teams who have toured before, the likes of The Hague CC and Quick CC.

Winning the toss on Saturday they elected to bat. Two early wickets, taken by S. Dhandapani and a run-out, saw the visitors in trouble. But, they then settled down with P. Gokoel (25), M. Jawalapersad (49) and extras (39) taking the score to nine wickets for 182 runs.

Marsa had batsmen J. Callus, F. Spiteri, S. Ali and J. Grima making 24, 23, 25 and 22 respectively. But it was not enough to stop the Dutch from their first victory here, bowling Marsa out for 144 runs.

On Sunday, Marsa had nine changes to the side. The tourists batted first again. Two early chances were missed by the keeper and first slip as Holland Touring Friends went on to make 287 for eight from their allotted 40 overs, a tough task for Marsa.

In reply, the hosts started off steadily with the first wicket falling at 49 runs. But, in the end, Marsa could only manage 183 runs.

The Dutch won the series 2-0.

This week sees Marsa playing England's Keele Reefer Association in a three-game series on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

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