Dutch bowlers too strong for Namibia

It was another display of well-targeted fast bowling that gave the Netherlands it’s second win in the T20 World Cup Qualifier. Led by Fred Klaassen, who took 2 for 3 in his first over, the Dutch bowlers continued to take wickets at vital times. Namibia, chasing a modest 140 runs, lost 4 wickets in the powerplay and another three before reaching the halfway mark. Besides Klaassen young Brandon Glover impressed again with his raw pace, claiming three wickets for just 15 runs. Paul van Meekeren effectively cleaned up the tail, leaving Namibia stranded on 96ao in 19 overs. Another strong performance in the field that should give the Dutch plenty of confidence going forward in the tournament.

van Meekeren 3-16/4
Glover 3-15/3
Klaassen 2-7/2
van der Merwe 1-22/4
van der Gugten 1-17/3

Earlier, a short stay at the crease for Tobias Visée and Ben Cooper in the first innings resulted in a shaky start for the Netherlands with runs hard to come by. Max O’Dowd got to 21 runs but it took him 29 balls, and both Pieter Seelaar and Roelof van der Merwe didn’t score with ease either. Despite early trouble for the Netherlands, veteran Ryan ten Doeschate played an attacking innings, reaching his fifty off just 30 balls. It was due to his experience and good support by Scott Edwards (9*) at the back-end of the innings that the Dutch reached 140/6, a total that turned out to be a winning score.

Ten Doeschate deservedly won the Man of the Match award for his 59 off 40 balls.

ten Doeschate 59
O’Dowd 21
Seelaar 17

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Head coach Ryan Campbell: "It was a pretty nervous batting innings but Ryan got us to what we thought was a defendable score. The wicket was a little bit harder than what we expect here, but the bowlers got their lengths right. This was probably the best fast bowling display I’ve seen from us in a long time. Namibia is a strong team so I’m very happy with the win."