The Association of Indian Dentists were the 20th team to visit Iceland. They were also the first all-Indian team to come to these shores, and the first team to lose a T20 series 3–0 to Iceland. Only Ovingdean, in 2008, had previously lost three matches in Iceland, but their opponents were Reykjavik (then Kylfan), Tata and Iceland.
First T20
Association of Indian Dentists 92 for 9 (20 overs) Brijender Khaseria 45* Prabhath Weerasooriya 2—11
Iceland 94 for 5 (11.3 overs) Derick Deonarain 23 Kandarp Nathwani 3—20
Iceland won by five wickets Player of the match: Brijender Khaseria Full scorecard
Having been awake since 4 a.m. and having already flown to Iceland, bathed in the Blue Lagoon and visited the lava flow on Reykjanes, the exhausted tourists inexplicably chose to bat on winning the toss. Steady bowling reduced a tired top order to 24 for 4, before Brijender Khaseria and Kandarp Nathwani stopped the rot. The former played a handsome unbeaten innings of 45 from 62 balls with four boundaries. Chasing a modest target, the Falcons hastened to 31 for 0 before Nathwani's quickish spin started to make inroads. Chamley Fernando, Sebastiaan Dreyer and Lee Nelson were all dropped before they could get going, and these missed opportunities stalled the Dentists' burgeoning comeback. Occasional wickets upset the Iceland reply, but the target proved all too reachable.
Second T20
Association of Indian Dentists 119 for 7 (20 overs) Mohit Kotian 26 Tariq Mehmood 2—20
Iceland 122 for 5 (15.1 overs) Samuel Gill 56* Sandeep Genu 3—31
Iceland won by five wickets Player of the match: Kandarp Nathwani Full scorecard
Through the day's tour of the Golden Circle, at the rift valley, the geyser and the waterfall (and even over ice cream at the dairy farm), the Dentists reached a consensus that batting first had been their big mistake the previous day. Today they would chase, by thunder, and get a win on the board. It thus came as a great surprise when captain Nathwani won the toss and once again elected to bat. So began a similar story, though in the face of a different set of Icelandic bowlers, the pick of whom were Tajdar Khan and Tariq Mehmood, both on debut. Leg-spinner Sathiya Rupan, finally given a decent opportunity, bowled impressively. Late hitting from Amit Dhamija brought the Association's total to the realm of competitiveness. It looked all the better when Iceland fell to 43 for 4 including the crucial wickets of Deonarain and Chamley Fernando. As Lakmal Bimsara grimly held on, Samuel Gill, whose last half-century for the national team came in 2003, hit a glorious, effervescent 56 not out from just 26 balls, carrying the Falcons over the line with time to spare.
Third T20
Iceland 202 for 4 (20 overs) Chamley Fernando 78 Amit Dhamija 1—20
Association of Indian Dentists 88 all out (16overs) Naveen Nagarathna 29 Prabhath Weerasooriya 6—14
Iceland won by 114 runs Player of the match: Naveen Nagarathna Full scorecard
Rising early to go out on the millpond-still Atlantic, the Dentists had revelled in perhaps the greatest whale-watching day of the last couple of years as they saw fin, humpback and minke whales surface, turn and breach at close range. This was, felt their guide, unprecedented even in her lengthy experience on the high seas. Back on land, there was almost an air of inevitability about the day's match: Iceland would surely bat and score big. And that's exactly what happened. Fernando and Deonarain put on 114 in quick time, and there was no let-up when they departed, as Bimsara (20 from 22) and Jakob Robertson (24 not out from just 10 balls) piled on the runs. Resigned to their fate, the visitors were undone by a record-breaking bowling spell from Weerasooriya. In 2020, he'd become the first Icelander to take a five-wicket haul; now he broke his own record and put together the best figures ever achieved for or against any Icelandic team, anywhere. The jollity of the occasion made it no great hardship for the tourists, who shrugged their shoulders and headed out for the very top of Fagradalsfjall: the first active volcanic eruption any of them had seen in their lives.
Performances of touring teams in Iceland
Won 3–0: Effigies (1)
Won 2–0: Columbia, Wessex Old Boys (2)
Won 2–1: Galah (1)
Won 1–0: Victoria Over 60s, Dollar (2)
Drew 1–1: Ovingdean 2005, Allez Les Bloggers (2)
Lost 0–1: Utopians, DHL, Fellowship of Fairly Odd Places, Antelopians (4)
Lost 1–2: Authors, Captain Scott XI, Sutton Benger (3)
Lost 0–2: Carmel, Masstor, Hackney Village (3)
Lost 0–3: Ovingdean 2008, Association of Indian Dentists (2)