Netherlands defeats Italy, Scotland tournament winner
Published at 12 September, 2023Scotland has won the European T20 Qualifier. The Dutch women did beat Italy, but the Scots had a better net run rate after a big win over France. Scotland and the Netherlands will both go to the Global Qualifier in early 2024.
Babette de Leede (injured) and Phebe Molkenboer stayed on the sidelines, Mikkie Zwilling and Myrthe van den Raad came in. Unfortunately, the latter soon injured her back, so Phebe still made an appearance as a substitute fielder.
These events did not prevent a brilliant start for the Netherlands. Iris Zwilling (1-5 in four overs!) and Robine Rijke (2-14) bowled excellently all week and both quickly took a wicket.
Bartram and Peddrick formed the partnership to be broken. Due to some dropped chances, the Italian women made 33 runs for the fifth wicket before Mikkie Zwilling made the breakthrough. Merel Dekeling bowled strongly and deserved even better figures than 1-8 in three overs. The ground fielding was okay, but catching proved more difficult under the Spanish sun. Still, the scoreboard stalled at just 78 runs for the Azzurri.
Innings Netherlands
Iris Zwilling (31) gave away four chances, but the Italian women did not take them. Robine Rijke (36) and Iris brought the score to 61/3. Both were run out unnecessarily and left the honour of the winning hit to Carlijn van Koolwijk.
Afterwards, the two best teams were honoured. Player of the tournament was Iris Zwilling, who opened both batting and bowling and excelled as a bowler.
All in all, it was a successful and educational tournament for the Dutch players. In the winter they will no doubt train hard to make a good impression at the Global Qualifier.
Photo credit: ICC
