The Netherlands stun B’desh at Eden

The Netherlands players celebrate the wicket of Bangladesh’s Litton Das at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday. Pic/PTI

The Dutch have done it again, and they might take offence if we call it an ‘upset' this time.

Bangladesh's reputation as the Test-playing ‘big brother' was torn to tatters by ‘minnows' The Netherlands at the Eden Gardens on Saturday as they romped to a 87-run victory. Having grown in confidence and stature through this World Cup, the men in orange defended a vulnerable 229 like lions their cubs to stop the opponents short and leapfrog them into eighth place on the points table.

Also Read: They are a very dangerous team: 'Keeper-batter KL

Both teams lost their openers early but, unlike the Dutch, Bangladesh failed to put partnerships in place to be stranded on the road to recovery.

Opting for first strike, the Netherlands had repeatedly wriggled out of tight situations to post a fighting total after Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam had given Bangladesh the start they hoped for. The openers were back in the pavilion within the first three overs with only four runs on the board. Wesley Barresi (41 off 41) and Colin Ackermann steadied the rocking boat with a 59-run partnership for the third wicket before they fell in quick succession.

Scott Edwards, then on zero, was dropped twice in a Mustafizur Rahman over and then snicked one through the three-slip cordon when on 12 but the skipper put all that behind him to buckle down for a fifth-wicket stand of 78 with Sybrand Engelbrecht, who too would be dropped off ‘Fizz'. Edwards, batting hero of their stunning win over South Africa, top-scored with 68.

With off-spinner Aryan Dutt extracting turn straight away, Logan van Beek working up good pace and The Netherlands cordon creeping in to deny singles, Litton Das was the first to lose poise and purpose as he fell trying to reverse-sweep Dutt. Shakib & Co never quite recovered from there.

Brief scores
The Netherlands 229 all out in 50 overs (S Edwards 68, W Barresi 41, S Engelbrecht 35; M Rahman 2-36, M Hasan 2-40, T Ahmed 2-43, S Islam 2-51) beat Bangladesh 142 all out in 42.2 overs (M Miraz 35; P Meekeren 4-23, B Leede 2-25) by 87 runs