Netherlands beat Bangladesh by 87 runs
Cricket
Scott Edwards stood up with a captain's knock as he made 68 off 89
KOLKATA (Web Desk) – A stunning bowling performance guided Netherlands to secure thumping 87-run win over Bangladesh in a match of the World Cup 2023 at Koklata stadium.
The Tigers landed in trouble from the star as they had lost all of their top five for just 69 runs to leave themselves with a mountain to climb.
Mehidy Hassan Miraz remained top scorers from Bangladesh with 35 runs as all other players fell for cheap scores.
Paul van Meekeren claimed four-wicket haul while Bas de Leede took scalps.
Earlier, the Netherlands set a target of 230 runs for Bangladesh. The orange team were rattled early on in their innings, and lost both their openers – Vikramjit Singh (3) and Max O'Dowd (0) – early.
The innings was then consolidated by veteran Wesley Barresi and Colin Ackermann. Barresi, in particular, showed good aggression, hitting seven fours in the first Powerplay.
After his removal team landed in trouble but captain Scott Edwards stood up with a captain's knock as he made 68 off 89.
Later, Sybrand Engelbrecht smashed 35 in a bid to raise the total to competitive point.
Earlier, the Netherlands won the toss and decided to bat first.
Earlier Coverage
It has been more than a decade since Bangladesh and Netherlands crossed paths in an ODI, with their only two meetings in the format coming in 2010 and 2011.
The ledger is split at 1-1 but Bangladesh crucially won the second of those encounters on their home soil in Chattogram during the Cricket World Cup 2011.
While the two teams might be unfamiliar to each other, and this time meet on neutral ground, they are in strikingly similar positions with each of their Cricket World Cup 2023 campaigns on the brink of falling apart.
Netherlands replaced Bangladesh at the bottom of the standings following their crushing 309-run loss at the hands of Australia and little now separates the teams even with England since sliding in between them.
Both teams can still turn to early triumphs in the tournament that hinted at bigger things to come though they have since been unable to back it up.
This meeting between two evenly-matched outfits gives both sides an opportunity to grasp that elusive second win that might be enough to later label their trip to India as a success.
Squads
Netherlands squad: Scott Edwards (c), Max O'Dowd, Bas de Leede, Vikram Singh, Teja Nidamanuru, Paul van Meekeren, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Ryan Klein, Wesley Barresi, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmad, Sybrand Engelbrecht.
Bangladesh squad: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Kumer Das, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto (vc), Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib.
