New Zealand again too strong for the Netherlands despite wonderful innings Myburgh

Of course it would be easy to point to the absence of bowlers such as Van der Merwe, Van der Gugten, Kingma, Van Meekeren and Snater. It is simply not so that good alternatives are immediately available. But even bowlers who belong to the top in the national competition barely got a grip on the New Zealand batsmen. Vice versa, several strong Blackcaps are currently participating in the IPL so New Zealand too could not field their strongest eleven.

Innings New Zealand

With Aryan Dutt stepping in for the injured Philippe Boissevain and Clayton Floyd for Brandon Glover, the Netherlands already had success in the fifth over, when Fred Klaassen – who bowled excellently throughout the Series – had Henry Nicholls caught behind the wicket.

After that, however, it was the Guptill & Young show. Guptill initially had some trouble with the conditions, but after failing twice in this Series, a high score from the experienced opener was likely.

The entire array of shots was shown and no bowler was spared.

Shortly after Guptill reached his 100, he got a top edge off Klaassen that was caught by Edwards: 215/2 in the 39th over. The incoming Ross Taylor, who played his last ODI, was given a guard of honour by the Dutch players upon entering - a nice gesture from the cricketers for the man who, in addition to 8,593 ODI runs, made 7,683 Test runs.

Will Young became the second centurion of the match. The Netherlands had to take wickets and did so. Taylor (14) hit a Van Beek delivery high in the air; Van Beek gratefully accepted the chance off his own bowling. Offspinner Dutt got top scorer Young (120) LBW. Colin the Grandhomme was dismissed when left arm spinner Floyd had him caught behind. Edwards' lightning-fast glovework made it 266/6 when he stumped Michael Bracewell. Dutt dropped Latham off his own bowling, but Bas de Leede got Doug Bracewell with an unbelievable running catch in the outfield.

In the final over, Van Beek (2-58) had Tom Latham caught behind; the fourth victim of ‘keeper Edwards. The final score was 333/8. The pick of the bowlers was Clayton Floyd with 2-41; Pieter Seelaar was economical with 0-27 off 5.

Innings the Netherlands

In his last ODI, Stephan Myburgh was clear about his intentions from the word go. He opened his proverbial 'bank account' with three boundaries off Matt Henry, was dropped by Nicholls at backward point and then treated the spectators to a fantastic batting show with gorgeous cuts, pulls and cover drives. Myburgh reached his 50 already in the tenth over. With 64 out of 43 balls, the 38-year-old lefthander had laid a fine foundation: 81/1 in the 12th over.

Vikram Singh (25) and Bas de Leede (21), the successful pair from the second match, made a partnership of 46 runs for the third wicket. After De Leede's wicket, captain Seelaar, unfortunately, cut his first ball into the hands of Guptill at slip. That meant 144/6 in the 29th over. In seventeen overs, only 63 runs were added and no less than five wickets fell.

Michael Rippon (24) and Logan van Beek (32) made 33 runs for the seventh wicket. New Zealand however did not slacken, as evidenced by the great catch with which Michael Bracewell got Rippon at deep mid wicket (177/7).

Van Beek hit three impressive sixes, but it turned out to be the last convulsions of the Orange. Very fittingly, it was the farewelling Ross Taylor who took the last catch. The Netherlands 218 all out.

National men’s coach Ryan Campbell: “Overall, the boys learnt a lot about themselves and their teammates. The Blackcaps showed what it takes to be successful at the International level.

We had some really good patches but just didn’t maintain them for long enough. Our youngsters also saw first-hand, how high a work ethic is required to be a success. We leave NZ with our heads held high and committed to keeping on improving as individuals and as a team.”

Conclusion

The final conclusion is that the Netherlands, unfortunately, comes out of this Series without any points. Very good periods were alternated with moderate sessions. Highlights included the two half-centuries of Rippon and Myburgh, the 77 partnership of Singh and De Leede and of course the bowling of Klaassen and Van Beek who almost brought New Zealand to their knees in the second game at 32/5. It was precisely in those moments, however, that New Zealand showed resilience. Invariably, they fought their way back into the match. The Netherlands were unable to do so, partly because of the lack of depth in the batting line-up. Either way, this tour was a very valuable experience for the whole team, especially for young players like Dutt, De Leede, Boissevain and Singh.