Netherlands A completes T20 whitewash against Italy
Published at 25 May, 2023The third and final T20 at Voorburg CC’s main resulted in a relatively easy victory for the Netherlands. This time the Orange team came to 201, Italy countered with 144 runs. Standouts were Levitt (51), Saqib (66 and 4-25) and Elenbaas (3-27).
Michael Levitt and Shirase Rasool (19) provided a lightning-fast opening for the Dutch. In the third over, Levitt showed the Italians every corner of the field with five fours. However, shortly after reaching his 50, Levitt saw a thick outside edge land in the hands of third man Hasan.
Saqib Zulfiqar underlined his excellent form with a superb 66 off just 31 balls. With 24 runs from Musa Ahmad (including a gorgeous six over extra cover) and Croes’ quickfire 15 off six deliveries, the Dutch final score was set at 201/4. Italy's fielding was of such a level that it offers fantastic opportunities to improve this crucial part of the game.
Italy innings
Italy had no intention of being led to the slaughter without any resistance. Syed Naqvi (31 out of 17) has already made a name for himself in European T10 cricket and batted to that reputation. Elenbaas was unlucky to see a catch dropped on the boundary off his bowling, but got his revenge with a top edge off a short delivery (32/1 in the fourth over). Farina (36) became top scorer for Italy. Elenbaas (3-27) was successful and the Italians had no answer to Saqib Zulfiqar's legspin (4-25). Boris Gorlee picked up an amazing running catch at long off.
Photo credit: Catch of the Day
