1992 champions cruise to victory, but de Leede leaves good impression with an all-round show—4-62 and 67—in the Netherlands’s opening game at Uppal
The Netherlands’s Bas de Leede celebrates his half-century against Pakistan yesterday. Pic/AFP
All-rounder Bas de Leede left an indelible mark, but the Netherlands went down to Pakistan by a whopping 81 runs at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal on Friday.
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The 23-year-old, who followed in his father Tim’s footsteps of playing in the World Cup, turned on the heat to steal the show. But it went in vain in the end. Bas demonstrated that he is a mean and attacking bowler to return with four wickets. He then enlivened the proceedings with a gutsy counterattack that kept the Netherlands in the hunt before he was bowled by left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz for a 68-ball 67 (6x4, 2x6). The Netherlands’s challenge faded away as Pakistan began their campaign on a winning note.
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Pakistan fall short of 300
Pakistan were looking for 300-plus but they could settle for 286, 14 runs short of that target. Shaheen Afridi went for 21 runs in his first four overs, but Hasan Ali scalped opener Max O’Dowd while Colin Ackermann was bowled round the legs even as left-handed Vikramjit Singh batted fluently at the top.
After his fine four-wicket haul, Bas batted with a lot of authority and felicity. With good footwork, he launched into the spinners that delighted the over 9,000 crowd.
He put up a good partnership with Vikramjit, who was out immediately after completing a well-deserved half-century. The two put on 70 runs. Vikram fell to leg-spinner Shadab Khan before Haris Rauf applied brakes on the Netherlands’s chase by packing off Teja Nidamanuru and skipper Scott Edwards in the 27th over.
Earlier, the Netherlands bowlers showed tremendous fighting spirit by stopping Pakistan from running away to a big total. Apart from Bas, Aryan Dutt, third of the Indian origin players in the Netherlands team, was also splendid with his off-breaks.
Opting to bowl, the Netherlands rocked the Pakistan top order. Big-hitting opener Fakhar Zaman failed to read a Paul Van Beek delivery before scooping the ball back to the bowler. Part-time off-spinner Ackermann, who was playing in his fifth match, had the biggest scalp of his career—Babar Azam—off his second ball. The Pakistan skipper played a clumsy pull shot to be caught at mid-wicket. Pakistan were reduced to 38 for 3 in 9.1 overs as left-handed opener Imam-ul-Haq hooked straight into the fine leg fielder’s hands.
Long wait for fourth wicket
The Netherlands had to wait till the 29th over for the fourth wicket as the left-right combination of Saud Shakeel (68; 52b, 9x4, 1x6) and Mohammed Rizwan (68; 75b, 8x4) steadied the wobbling Pakistan ship.
The fleet-footed Rizwan was strokeful and aggressive. So was the left-handed Shakeel, who took the initiative by taking three fours off left-arm spinner Roelof. The enterprising Shakeel timed the ball beautifully and reached his 50 in 32 balls.
Suddenly, Pakistan took charge and the Netherlands seemed to lose their zeal. But Bas brought cheers to the Netherlands camp nevertheless in fine fashion.
Brief scores
Pakistan 286 all out in 49 overs (M Rizwan 68, S Shakeel 68, M Nawaz 39; B de Leede 4-22, C Ackermann 2-39) beat The Netherlands 205 all out in 41 overs (B de Leede 67, V Singh 52; H Rauf 3-43, H Ali 2-33) by 81 runs
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