The Netherlands beat UAE on penultimate ball
Published at 16 October, 2022The Netherlands has narrowly won its first match at the T20 World Cup in Australia. In ice-cold Geelong the Orange restricted the United Arab Emirates to 111. Chasing was not easy, but Edwards and Van Beek brought the Netherlands the win on the penultimate ball: 112/7.
The opening overs of left armers Fred Klaassen and Tim Pringle were excellent: inswing for Klaassen, turn and bounce for Pringle. A lot of changes was the tactic, although bringing on Van Beek for Pringle did not have the desired effect. Muhammad Waseem hit him for six twice. Yet UAE was only 31/0 after the Powerplay (the first six overs).
A first success for the Orange came when Van der Merwe got opener Chirag Suri (12) caught behind. His successor Kashif Daud should have been out first ball, but Ackermann wasn't quite on the mid wicket boundary. Although Singh dropped Waseem at third man, UAE was still unable to accelerate. After ten overs it was 57/1.
Pringle's tight bowling (1-13) was rewarded when he bowled Daud: 59/2 in the eleventh over. Pringle also made a name for himself as a fielder when he caught top scorer Waseem (41) at cow corner. A bit later, a fantastic throw by Ackermann resulted in Zawar Farid's run out.
The nineteenth and twentieth over would prove to be crucial for the match. Player of the Match Bas de Leede (3-19) struck no less than three times and Klaassen (2-13) finished with an economical final over. Where 130 seemed to be on the cards earlier, 111/8 was the disappointing end result for the Arabs.
Netherlands innings
Vikram Singh, who had been selected over Stephan Myburgh, hit two beautiful fours before being bowled. O'Dowd looked 'old-fashioned' again: dominant and powerful, but he played across the line on a ball from Junaid that kept low: 41/2 in the sixth over.
Bas de Leede hit a cover drive in the hands of captain Rizwan and was unlucky that the so-called 'soft signal' on the field was 'out'. Perhaps the fielder did indeed have his fingers under the ball. Halfway through the innings, the Netherlands was 62/3. Shortly after, however, Ackermann (17) chose to play a sweep shot. The top edge ended up in the hands of the deep square leg: 71/4. Cooper and Edwards did not bring the Netherlands to a safe haven either. Cooper was out lbw and two balls later Van der Merwe was bowled.
In the same over Pringle hit what would have been a clear wide into the hands of Rizwan, who dropped the simple chance in the covers. It would prove to be a defining moment, as Edwards and Pringle made 27 for the seventh wicket. Although Pringle (bowled) lost his wicket, the stoic Edwards and Van Beek did perfectly what was required of them: a run a ball. On the penultimate delivery captain Edwards (16 not out) hit the winning run. The celebrations in the Orange camp were great.
As a result of this win the Netherlands keeps an eye on qualification for the Super 12; the first two teams will continue. Surprisingly, Namibia beat Sri Lanka by a big margin. The Netherlands will play Namibia on 18 October and Sri Lanka on 20 October.
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