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Brandon Moyo, in BULAWAYO
RANK outsiders Netherlands have defied the odds and qualified for the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup after a comfortable four wickets win over Scotland at Queens Sports Club yesterday.
When no one gave them a chance, the Dutch stood up and were equal to the task at hand. They needed to chase down the set target of 278 runs in 44 overs to overhaul Scotland’s net run rate and book their ticket to India, and they managed to sail through in the 43rd over.
After winning the toss and elected to field first, Netherlands restricted Scotland to 277/9 in 50 overs, they went on to finish on 278/6 in 42,5 overs.
The win was extra special for Netherlands who came into the tournament without some of their seasoned players who had opted for county cricket in England.
It took a special Bas de Leede innings with both bat and ball to see the Dutch cross the finish line. In the first innings of the match, de Leede grabbed his maiden five wicket haul in international cricket to help his side restrict their opponents to a chaseable score.
De Leede finished with figures of 5/52 in his 10-over spell which became his career best figures while Ryan Klein took two scalps and conceded 59 runs in 10 overs as well with ball in hand for Netherlands. Logan van Beek, who also bowled his full overs, took just one wicket for 49 runs.
Scotland’s Brandon McMullen was the pick of the batters, top scoring with 106 runs from 110 deliveries batting at number three. This was his second ton of the tournament and their captain Richie Berrington also chipped in with a brilliant 64 runs after facing 84 deliveries to help their side reach an above first innings average score at Queens Sports Club in the Super Six of the tournament.
Coming in to bat with scoreboard pressure knowing that they need to score quickly to book their tickets to India, the Dutch batters managed to do so comfortably. Their opening stand of Max O’Dowd and Vikramjit Singh put up a 64 run partnership for the first wicket before the former departed for 20 runs off 34 deliveries. Singh went on to fall 10 runs short of his half century of 40 runs from 49 balls.
The Dutch needed something special with the bat and just like in the first innings, it was De Leede who stood up to be counted. The 23 year old scored his maiden One Day International (ODI) century when it mattered the most, finishing on 123 runs from 92 balls.
Michael Leask had the best figures for Scotland, taking two wickets for 42 runs in eight overs. Yesterday’s match meant that Scotland’s brilliant Super Six run which saw them defeat the West Indies and Zimbabwe has come to an end.
For Netherlands, however, it is not the end as they are set to go on and play against Sri Lanka in the final at Harare Sports Club on Sunday. The two teams are the ones that will be going to the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers.
Sri Lanka qualified with eight points while Netherlands had six and qualified through net run rate as they had a better one compared to Scotland and Sri Lanka who both also had six points.
Online Reporter