O'Dowd can't beat Sri Lanka on his own; Dutch must hope for UAE win
Published at 20 October, 2022Netherlands has lost its final T20 World Cup match in the group stage to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's total was not astronomical (162), but for the Dutch (146) only opener Max O'Dowd held his own with a heroic 71 not out.
An unchanged Dutch team took on Sri Lanka for a place in the Super 12. Sri Lanka won the toss and started slowly; it was 36/0 after the first Powerplay.
The again brilliantly bowling Paul van Meekeren (2-25) had two chances in his first over to take Pathum Nissanka's wicket. A top edge fell onto the turf just in front of keeper Edwards. A ball later, the tall seamer had a difficult caught and bowled chance that could even have led to Mendis' (crucial) run out.
Van Meekeren bowled two super-fast shorter balls of 90 mph (145 km/h), followed by a perfect yorker: 36/1. The next ball was another fast yorker: Dhananjaya Silva lbw! The batsman failed to review the decision; the ball would have missed the legstump.
Lefthander Charith Asalanka escaped when Edwards was unable to control a difficult chance on the legside off Van der Merwe. It was a strong phase for the Netherlands, in which Sri Lanka was lucky that the balls repeatedly fell just in front of fielders.
Sri Lanka accelerated drastically to 96 after fourteen overs, after which Bas de Leede provided the breakthrough (Asalanka ct Edwards).
Kusal Mendis benefited from some Dutch flaws in the field and lefthander Bhanuka Rajapaksa did not hold back either. Although his wicket still fell at 130 (ct Pringle) and Shanaka's at 151 (ct Ackermann), the final result was a challenging 162 with Kusal Mendis (79 off 44 balls, ct sub Van Beek) as top scorer. Sri Lanka made 102 runs off the last ten overs.
Netherlands innings
Sri Lanka started with an offspinner (Dhananjaya de Silva) and fast seamer Lahiru Kumara. It was clear that this attack was a bit better than Namibia’s or the UAE’s. Bas de Leede (14) pulled Kumara for six, but was caught behind the wicket in the same over - and this World Cup wasn't Ackermann's tournament, caught and bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga for a duck.
Cooper (16, b Theeksana) hit some powerful fours over the infield. After ten overs, the Dutch were 63/3, so a hundred runs were required from the last ten overs.
All hope was now pinned on the Netherlands’ rock Max O'Dowd and captain Scott Edwards. Edwards (21) attacked Hasaranga (3-28) with a handful of lovely sweep shots before he fell victim to a 'knuckle ball' from Binura Fernando.
After that, the proverbial wheels came off. Pringle took a second run that wasn't there, Van der Gugten didn't read Hasaranga's googly and Klaassen mowed over a ball that kept low: 109/8.
O'Dowd, who did not get enough of the strike, made hardcore Orange fans hope for a miracle with three consecutive boundaries, but on the other side of the pitch Van Meekeren was run out. Van der Merwe was in great pain and could hardly walk, but still came to the crease.
Max O'Dowd knew that the fate of the men in Orange rested on his shoulders. He hit Maheesh Theekshana for sixteen runs in the nineteenth over, which meant that the Netherlands had to make 23 runs off the last over.
Max will be forgiven for the fact that that was not to be, although the Netherlands (146/9) still came pretty close to the target. O'Dowd remained not out with a mighty 71 runs off 53 balls – which meant he got less than half of the available 120 balls.
If Namibia loses to the UAE on Thursday evening, the Netherlands will be through to the Super 12. Should Namibia win, they will go through. In that case, the Netherlands will finish third and can go home.
Photo credit ICC / Getty Images
