Dutch defeated by Scots in final WCL2 match
Published at 16 May, 2025The Netherlands has not been able to win the fourth and final duel in the context of the World Cup League 2 (World Cup qualification) against Scotland. The Scots were asked to bat and so they did: 380/9 was their highest ODI score ever. Although the fielding of the Netherlands was decent, the bowling was below par and the batting of the Scots exceptionally good.
The wicket of Charlie Tear was the only early success for the Netherlands, a great catch by Fred Klaassen in the covers. There was no limit to lefthander George Munsey (80), who showed fantastic batting. In the twentieth over, however, he made a mistake and hit the ball into the hands of Michael Levitt at backward square leg (147/2).
Brandon McMullen (101), one of the greatest talents in Associate cricket, continued unperturbed, working on a magnificent innings, as did Richie Berrington (105). Both batsmen made an almost flawless century. A lot of bowling changes was the motto, but that did not have the desired effect. With Kingma injured (hamstring tear) and Dutt out of the team, the bowling options for captain Edwards were limited. Aided by - albeit difficult - catching opportunities in the 33rd, 36th and 50th over - and despite reasonable ground fielding - Scotland hit 45 boundaries. Paul van Meekeren and Kyle Klein took three wickets each. For the two Dutch spinners Van der Merwe and Lion-Cachet, there was little honor to be gained on the Utrecht batting paradise.
Netherlands innings
Michael Levitt started a bit shaky. Max O'Dowd batted with more conviction, but was the first to go when he hit a ball into the hands of the mid off (27/1). Just when Levitt (32) was getting into his game, a mishit was picked up on the offside. One ball later, Lion-Cachet was caught at short mid wicket (53/3/8.1).
Bas de Leede also had a rough start, but after some time he got into his groove together with Scott Edwards (21, LBW). The result was a partnership of 57 runs for the fifth wicket (107/5/20.2).
With a required run rate of almost ten runs per over, a Dutch victory was unlikely. With a beautiful straight drive, Bas de Leede reached his sixth ODI-fifty. Noah Croes (23) was unlucky when a ball that seemed to hit his clothing was interpreted as an edge (175/6/30.4). This brought another budding partnership (68 runs for the sixth wicket) to an end. When Bas de Leede (74) was stumped shortly afterwards, it was de facto 'game, set and match' for the Scots. It was 235 all out, with the final highlight being a 'massive six' by Fred Klaassen.
Brandon McMullen (4-55) just missed out on the famous list of all-rounders with a century and five wickets to their name in a match, but the winning margin (145 runs) was still impressive whilst Brad Currie took 3-49.
Scotland (third after three wins) and the Netherlands (first after three wins) can both look back on a successful TriSeries.
