Mission accomplished: Dutch Lions qualify for Division 1 tournament through simple win over Italy

A new day, a new opponent and again a new ground. Svanholm Park was the venue, where the number two of Group A and the number one of Group B would battle it out for a place in the final and direct qualification to next year’s Division 1 event. After their struggle to chase a modest 110 of Denmark on Saturday it did not come as a surprise that after winning the toss, the Italians chose to bat first.

Once again, Sam van Giezen was unplayable for the opponents. In his spell of ten overs he picked up three wickets, conceding only 16 runs and bowling 5 maidens. Already after four balls he created a first dent in all good intentions of “Gli Azzurri”. The wickets kept tumbling at a regular pace. Van Giezen picked up another two, and Roman Harhangi, Azzam Khan and Alejo Nota chipped in with two wickets each. Via 18/3 in 8.5 and 38/6 in 19.5, the Italians stumbled to a meagre total of 52 all out in 28.5 overs. The fact that the most expensive bowlers Dutch bowlers had an economy rate of 2.00, told the story.

The batting innings of the Dutch followed immediately - lunch had not arrived yet. Despite losing both openers quickly, Shirsak Banerjee (26*) and Tom de Leede (20*) saw the Dutch team home comfortably. Man of the Match was Sam van Giezen.

Qualification for the final means automatically promotion to the Division 1 Qualifying tournament in 2025, as the top-3 will proceed. But the team looks still eager enough to win the final on Tuesday against Sweden, and take away any doubt about which team was the best this week.