NEW DELHI: A couple of days ago in Colombo, the Netherlands saw the game being taken away from their grasp against Pakistan in the last few balls, but on Tuesday, Dutch all-rounder Bas de Leede made sure there were no hiccups this time and led his team to their first victory of the T20 World Cup as they registered a thumping seven-wicket win over Namibia.Bas, whose father Tim de Leede also played for the Netherlands and had dismissed Sachin Tendulkar in the 2003 ODI World Cup for his first international wicket, showed his all-round prowess at Delhi’s Firoz Shah Kotla Ground to keep his team alive in the tournament.
After restricting Namibia to 156 for 8, Bas de Leede steered the Netherlands home with twelve balls to spare. De Leede stayed unbeaten on 72 off 48 balls.De Leede got ample support from Colin Ackermann, who scored 32 off 28 balls, and opener Michael Levitt, who made 28 off 15 balls. His 70-run stand with Ackermann for the third wicket proved to be the game-changing partnership.Meanwhile, taking a cue from the Netherlands, Namibia also began their attack with spin and found success straightaway as Max O’Dowd was caught at long-on by the Namibian captain off left-arm orthodox Bernard Scholtz’s quicker back-of-a-length delivery in the third over of the innings.Left-arm pacer Ruben Trumpelmann removed Michael Levitt on the third ball of the sixth over, but the 22-year-old batter had inflicted enough damage with his 15-ball 28-run innings as the Dutch finished the powerplay at 50 for 2.Ackermann was dropped on 13 by Steenkamp in the 10th over. The Netherlands still needed 80 runs in the final half of their innings, and Ackermann’s wicket would have put them under pressure, but Steenkamp could not hold on to a regulation catch at deep square leg.After being put in to bat, Namibia had a slow start. Louren Steenkamp and Jan Frylinck opened the innings as the Netherlands began with off-spinner Aryan Dutt. The lanky spinner had Steenkamp stranded halfway down the track as the right-handed batter was stumped by Dutch skipper Scott Edwards in the third over.The Dutch bowlers made full use of the conditions and bowled four overs of spin in the powerplay as the Namibia Eagles could score only 40 runs in the first six overs, hitting just three boundaries and four sixes.Jan Frylinck’s innings never took off and came to an unceremonious end when he was caught by Edwards off Logan van Beek’s bowling as Namibia were left reeling at 65 for 2 after 10 overs.It was only after captain Gerhard Erasmus joined left-hander Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton in the middle that Namibia’s run rate received a boost as they scored 29 runs in the next two overs to take the total to 94 for 2 in 12 overs.However, Erasmus, who scored 18 off 9 balls, was caught at midwicket in the 13th over. Loftie-Eaton, who made 42 off 38 balls, followed soon after, and Namibia were reduced to 107 for 4 in the 15th over.Namibia were left without the hitting prowess of Ruben Trumpelmann in the final few balls of their innings, as a poor call from Dylan Leicher led to Trumpelmann being run out for 9.
Poll
Should Bas de Leede be considered one of the key players for the Netherlands in this T20 World Cup?
Namibia finished on 156 for 8 in 20 overs, aided in part by some ordinary captaincy from Scott Edwards, as none of the four successful Dutch bowlers completed their full quota. Aryan Dutt took one wicket while conceding just 13 runs in his three overs, while Logan van Beek and Bas de Leede picked up two wickets each.Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton was the top scorer for Namibia with 42, while opener Jan Frylinck scored 30 off 26 balls.Brief scoresNamibia: 156/8 in 20 overs (Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton 42, Jan Frylinck 30; Logan van Beek 2/13, Bas de Leede 2/20).Netherlands: 159/3 in 18 overs (Bas de Leede not out 72, Colin Ackermann 32).
