MATCH REPORT
Follow UsKathmandu: The Netherlands bounced back to trounce Namibia by seven wickets in the third match of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 at the Tribhuvan University (TU) Cricket Ground on Monday (February 19). Opting to bowl first, Scott Edwards’ team rolled over Namibia for just 123, with Aryan Dutt finishing with 6 for 34, which are the best One-Day International (ODI) figures for a Netherlands bowler.
This comes as a welcome victory for the Dutch, who a couple of days ago were on the receiving end of a hammering at the hands of Nepal. Luckily for the Netherlands, everything fell into place today.
Dutt did not open the bowling today as he had done in the ODI World Cup Qualifiers and the World Cup. Instead, the new cherry was shared by pacers Kyle Klien and Vivian Kingma. After a sedate start, Klein had Nikolaas Davin caught at mid-wicket to claim his maiden wicket in the format.
However, when Dutt was introduced in the ninth over, it was carnage. He dismissed JP Kotze (5), Michael van Lingen (4) and Jan Frylinck (0) in his first eight deliveries to have the Namibians reeling at 30 for 4. He had another double-wicket over when he removed the big fish skipper Gerhard Erasmus (13) and Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton (0) to completely put the Netherlands in control.
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From there, it was just a question of how quickly the Dutch could knock the remaining wickets over. JJ Smit (26) held one end up and, along with Zane Green (19), resurrected the innings to a certain extent, putting on 30. Ruben Trumpelmann (19) and Bernard Scholtz (12) did their best to get stuck in, but in the end, the Dutch proved to be too good.
The Netherlands openers Michael Levitt (57) and Max O’Dowd (28) put the game to rest with an impressive 78-run opening stand, which was studded with glorious drives and commanding pulls. Levitt, who was dismissed for a three-ball duck on debut two days back, dug in deep and got to his maiden fifty.
“That will be a massive confidence booster for him. Coming out on your debut innings can be tricky. For him to get a fifty and to anchor the innings for us to get over the line, chasing a small total, was awesome to see. Very exciting for the future with some of the shots he was playing,” Edwards said of 20-year-old Levitt at the post-match press conference.
Erasmus, who picked up a fifer in Namibia’s victory over Nepal in the first game of the series, looked to keep his side in the game with three more scalps, but in the end, his side did not have enough runs on the board. Bas de Leede (21*) and Edwards (4*) finished things off in the end to hand their side a morale-boosting victory.
The toss once again proved crucial. The teams winning the toss so far in the series have decided to bowl first and have walked away with comfortable wins in the end. With a 9.30 AM start, there’s a lot of assistance for the seam bowlers given that there is a bit of nip in the air, and as the day progresses, with the sun beating down, the wickets tend to go flat, making it easier for the team batting second.
Edwards spoke of the need to get past the initial “tricky” period.
“We saw even the way we started, we bowled well, the wicket was playing heaps of tricks in the first ten overs. It’s a tricky one, whether you go hard early or things like that,” Edwards observed.
“Aryan bowled sensationally in that little patch there, and then once they got through to 25 overs, it looked like you can score. So, it’s just that tricky period of 10-15 overs we have to find a way. We have to speak into it and how we are about to go about that.”
Erasmus also reckons batting first after early starts in Nepal should not be an excuse for a poor show with the bat.
“Historically and statistically, it [9.30 AM start] has been a big factor here in Nepal. So, you can’t shy away from that. You’ve just got to find a method of playing the best game possible,” Erasmus said.
“If you’re up against statistics, if life didn’t want you to win the toss on a specific day, you’ve still got to go on and play your cricket, you cannot not go on the field. You have got to have a process, as JJ Smit showed. Cashing in at the back end when it gets a little bit flatter is the way of doing it.”
Namibia has a chance to bounce back on Wednesday (February 21) when they take on Nepal at the same venue. The Eagles walked away with the vital two points when the sides met previously on Thursday (February 15).
Brief scores:
Namibia 123 in 35.1 overs (JJ Smit 26, Ruben Trumpelmann 20; Aryan Dutt 6 for 34) lost to Netherlands 124 for 3 in 27.2 overs (Michael Levitt 57, Max O’Dowd 28; Gerhard Erasmus 3 for 23) by 7 wickets.
Player of the match: Aryan Dutt
