Masterful display from the Crusaders sees them leave Austria with 100% record

The Crusaders showed the Austrian Cricket Association little mercy as they punished the ACA attack with a glorious exhibition of strokeplay. Matthew Harrison and Tim Welsford shared an opening stand of 132, before Welsford departed for 72, and Harrison went on to reach his century in 104 minutes off 83 balls, eventually retiring on 113, sharing in a rapid partnership worth 87 for the fourth wicket with Ian Hewitt. Hewitt went on to eclipse him, plundering his 102* off 63 balls in a mere 70 minutes, as the Crusaders scored 332-4 in 37 overs. Earlier in the innings there had been a slight wobble as Wasif Mohammed picked up three wickets in five balls, removing Welsford, McDonald and David Hussey, the last of whom was stumped off a wide, thanks to some fast glovework by Amir Naeem.

The batting performance was possibly surpassed by the bowling performance, with Hewitt bowling impressively and returning with 4-19 off 8 overs, the first blow being struck in the first over, with Tim Simpson departing for a duck. Erwin Grasinger batted patiently for 17 - occupying the crease for an hour in the process as wickets fell at the other end. Babar Nadeem, playing for the ACA side for the first time struck eight fours in a knock of 37, the highest score in the ACA innings, and after brief resistence from Thomas Grabetz and Paul Hudson, the ACA side were finally all out for 103.

The Crusaders left Austria undefeated, with two wins to start their tour with, and moved onto Amsterdam, where their next opponents are due to be a VRA Invitation XI and SGS, both matches being played side by side on the same day (24th June) in Amstelveen, before games against the Netherlands and Netherlands Under 23 on the following days. The ACA would once again like to express their thanks to the Crusaders for the spirit in which they played the games and for their help in trying to encourage cricket in Austria.