Dutch cricketers down in final, but World Cup ticket is ours
Published at 09 July, 2023The World Cup ticket may be in, but in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka made it clear who was the better team; the Asians won 233-105.
With Noah Croes in the team for Bas de Leede, who returned to England, the Dutch team got off to a reasonable start. The bowlers did their job and it was jack of all trades Vikram Singh who made a double breakthrough. Croes caught Samarawickrama in the covers and Dutt took a good catch (Nissanka) at long leg.
Mendis was riding his luck when two (admittedly difficult) chances went down. Arachchige (57) only fell when he made a reverse sweep off Zulfiqar; the bullett did not cause any problems for Logan van Beek. Moments later, the same fielder caused a brilliant direct hit run out. The review took a long time, but was eventually given out. Minutes later, Van Beek was involved in yet another wicket, this time as a bowler. Instead of the acceleration desired by Sri Lanka in the final overs, it was suddenly (after 180/3) 190/7: four wickets had fallen in seventeen balls.
After that there were some dropped chances for the Netherlands, two of which were in one over off Logan van Beek’s bowling, who was visibly unimpressed. Croes missed two run-out chances. It all wasn't great from either side In this phase.
O'Dowd held on to a skier from Hasaranga (222/8). Croes got a second chance and grabbed it with both hands. This gave Van Beek (2-40) what he deserved. Dutt got the final batsman stumped: 233 all out. Four bowlers took two wickets (Vikram 2-12).
Netherlands innings
O'Dowd and Vikram Singh brought the Netherlands to 25 before Vikram was caught at point by Asalanka. Barresi lost his midstump before he could get off the mark. Debutant Croes was beaten for pace by the outstanding left arm seamer Madushanka (39/4). After a handful of narrow escapes, the lightning-fast Edwards ran himself out in an attempt to get the struggling O’Dowd off strike.
The Netherlands had a lot of trouble picking the googly. On the other side, Pathirana, the new Malinga, invariably bowled above 140 km/h. Still, opener O'Dowd (33) and Van Beek managed to put together a partnership of 36 for the seventh wicket.
Van Beek managed 20 not out, but no miracles could be expected from the tailenders. Orange was all out for 105 in only 23.3 overs as Theekshana (4-31) ran through the tail.
As finalists of this qualifying tournament, the Netherlands and Sri Lanka will participate in the World Cup in India in October and November. Both countries will play nine matches against the strongest countries in the world, including England, Australia, India and Pakistan.
Photo credit: ICC/Getty
