Pakistan vs Netherlands: batting proves difficult on rock-hard surface in Perth
Published at 30 October, 2022The Dutch men's team failed to win the third meeting in the Super 12. Pakistan took full advantage of the hard pitch in Perth and restricted the Netherlands to 91/9 – a score that Pakistan only managed to surpass in the fourteenth over and with four wickets down.
With Brandon Glover in for Logan van Beek, Stephan Myburgh for Vikram Singh and the patched-up Roelof van der Merwe for Shariz Ahmad, the Netherlands opted for experience. It also opted for batting first after winning the toss.
That that choice did not work out well was because Pakistan made optimal use of the bouncy track. An magnificent cover drive by Myburgh (6) was followed by a top edge that meant his dismissal: 7/1. It was almost impossible to play the pull shot. Bas de Leede (6 rh) was late on one; the grille of his helmet damaged his cheekbone. He retired hurt and several stitches were needed. Nowadays, the subsitute (Logan van Beek) can take the place of the injured player and is not only allowed to field but also to bat and bowl. With Tom Cooper out, De Leede retired hurt and O'Dowd lbw, the Netherlands was on a pretty hopeless 34/3 after ten overs.
Colin Ackermann (27) played the rampshot successfully on the lightning-fast Rauf, but the reverse sweep in the fifteenth over meant the end of his innings: 61/4. Edwards (15) and Van der Merwe (5) were hardly capable of finding the boundary due to excellent bowling by the Pakistanis. It was 73/6 in the seventeenth over; more than 91/9 was not viable for the Dutch.
Innings Pakistan
Pakistan showed that it was possible after all to bat on the bouncy strip. However, Babar Azam lended the Dutch a helping hand. A brilliant stop by Van Beek at point put some pressure on the Pakistani captain, who ran himself out a ball later thanks to a fantastic direct hit by Roelof van der Merwe: 16/1.
Brandon Glover (who bowled 140 km/h) started with an economical first over and was rewarded in his second over when he got lefthander Fakhar Zaman (20) caught behind: 53/2. The Dutch put up a good fight - Van Meekeren (1-19) got Rizwan (49) caught behind and gave Glover (2-22) his second wicket through a good catch at third man - but could not prevent Pakistan from surpassing the meagre Dutch total in the fourteenth over.
Photo credit ICC/Getty images
