Sunday 24 / November / 2024
Kolkata: The Netherlands bowlers delivered an outstanding performance to secure an 87-run victory over Bangladesh at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup at Eden Gardens on Saturday.
Dutch captain Scott Edwards’ half-century helped the Dutch to a competitive score of 229 in a struggle of a first innings. But the bowling attack also took advantage of a helpful surface to leave Bangladesh’s reply in tatters, with the Tigers slipping to 142 all out.
The Dutch bowlers, led by Paul van Meekeren, then took centre stage, applying significant pressure on an underperforming Bangladesh side. Van Meekeren claimed four wickets for just 23 runs, and the Dutch team’s disciplined bowling further tightened their grip on the match.
Bangladesh faced early setbacks in their pursuit of the 230-run target, with Litton Das departing for three runs from 12 balls, caught behind off Aryan Dutt. Tanzid Hazan, another opener, also fell quickly, with Edwards taking a catch off Van Beek.
Despite a brief recovery effort by Bangladesh, they suffered another setback when van Meekeren dismissed Najmul Hossain Shanto for 9, leaving Bangladesh at 45/3. Soon Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz departed, leaving Bangladesh at 69/5.
The turning point came when Mahedi Hasan was run out at the non-striker’s end. Mahmudullah was then caught by Aryan Dutt off De Leede for 20, bringing Netherlands closer to victory. The final wickets fell quickly after a gutsy ninth-wicket partnership, with Colin Ackermann dismissing Mustafizur Rahman and Van Meekeren accounting for Taskin just two balls later.
For the Netherlands, the journey to 229 was marked by early wickets, with both openers falling early. However, Wesley Barresi (41) and Ackermann stabilised the innings with notable contributions. Scott Edwards played a crucial role in putting together a terrific contribution, eventually scoring 68 runs from 89 balls.
Although Sybrand Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek pushed the score past 200, the Netherlands couldn’t finish their innings as strongly as they had hoped.
Shakib Al Hasan bowled tightly, finishing with figures of 1/37 from ten overs, while four other Bangladesh bowlers took two wickets each: Taskin Ahmed (2/43), Shoriful Islam (2/51), Mustafizur Rahman (2/36), and Mahedi Hasan (2/40).
Brief scores: Netherlands: 229 (Scott Edwards 68, Wesley Barresi 41, Sybrand Engelbrecht 35; Shoriful Islam 2/51, Taskin Ahmed 2/43, Mustafizur Rahman 2/36, Mahedi Hasan 2/40) beat Bangladesh 142 in 42.2 overs (Mehidy Hasan Miraz 35; Paul van Meekeren 4/23, Bas de Leede 2/25). (cricketworldcup.com)
