“I think we can probably do more than what people expect from us”, Bas de Leede had said ahead of the Netherlands ICC World Cup 2023 opener against Pakistan at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad on Thursday.
On Friday, the Netherlands fell short by 81 runs, but the all-rounder can take pride in delivering on what he had promised a day earlier. De Leede led the bowling attack with figures of 4/62 and then anchored the innings with a 75-ball 68-run effort.
After having Pakistan under the pump at 38/3, the Dutch side allowed Pakistan to post 286, and even though with the bat they got a decent start, the batters failed to string together regular partnerships and once Pakistan broke through the middle-order it was only a matter of time.
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Pakistan did not have the greatest of games, but they did the job and the most gratifying part for them would be all the bowlers were among the wickets. Even though Shaheen Afridi looked off at the beginning, he managed to get his radar right in the second spell while Hasan Ali was economical.
Vikramjit Malik put together 52 off 67, a chancy innings that was interspersed with some bit of calculated aggression, but once the run-rate started to creep up ever so slightly, it was a case of one big shot too many.
However, the star of the night, at least from the Dutch side was De Leede. Walking into bat at 51/2, de Leede took his time to settle in but once he got going, the quality was evident. In the 17th over, de Leede chipped Mohammad Nawaz towards long on and that was so well timed that it travelled the distance – the best shot of the match from either side.
De Leede showed why he is rated so highly and along with Malik kept the Netherlands in the hunt till the 25th over. Malik’s departure in the 24th over notwithstanding, de Leede looked like a genuine threat, forcing Babar Azam to bring back his pacers for a second dig early.
The spinners did the containing job to near perfection with Iftikar’s three part-timer overs yielding the wicket of Colin Ackermann while Nawaz’s seven went for just 31 runs. Shadab did leak runs going at an economy of 5.62, but in the larger scheme of things, it mattered less.
Pakistan vs Netherlands Highlights ODI World Cup 2023
The Netherlands though will rue the fact that if de Leede had got a bit more support from the senior pros, the 8992 strong crowd could very well have witnessed a closer contest. Haris Rauf though had other plans and once he got Teja Nidamanuru and skipper Scott Edwards in the same over – 27th – the game was done and dusted with de Leede being the only ray of hope.
Nidamanuru, who is originally from Vijayawada, playing for the first time in front of his family – who had made the trip from the neighbouring state would be disappointed to return with five runs to his kitty, but he was up against one of the best, if not the best pace bowlers in the middle overs. Rauf. Bustling in with pace, Rauf realised the pitch was not offering much and he banged it in short – a cross seamer – and it foxed Nidamanuru who went for the pull and perished. Edwards was undone by one that nipped back it and was trapped in front.
De Leede though continued to fight for a while with some meaty blows, Nawaz got the better of the Dutch player with a delivery that gripped and evaded de Leede’s bat to crash into the off stump. From there it was merely formality and even though No.10 and 11 – Logan Van Beek and Paul Van Meekeren had some late fun, they were only delaying the inevitable.
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