The Netherlands registered a narrow win over the UAE in their first match of the T20 World Cup group stages. The side followed up a good show with the ball with an average batting performance, which helped them have the edge over UAE in a low-scoring thriller.
UAE on the other hand is in trouble after having lost their opening game of the group stage of the T20 World Cup. The side posed a serious threat with the ball in the second innings but failed to have the edge over their opponents in the crucial moments, which resulted in a 3-wicket loss for them.
The UAE won the toss and elected to bat first. The openers, Suri and Waseem, provided a slow start to their side. Suri was dismissed in the 6th over by van der Merwe for 12 as UAE struggled to get going. Kashif Days, who was new to the crease, steered the innings forward along with Waseem, but neither of them managed to take the bowlers on demand and find the boundaries.
This led to Daud’s dismissal for 15. Waseem, who had been resistant right from the first over, ended up losing his rhythm and threw away his wicket after scoring a 47-ball 41 as UAE were 3 wickets down at 91. What followed was sheer dominance by the Dutch bowlers. The UAE lost 5 wickets in the remaining overs just for the addition of 21 runs, thereby posting a target of 113 for the Netherlands to chase.
The Netherlands, too, didn’t have a perfect start to their run chase as they lost early wickets inside the powerplay. Both the openers were sent back inside the first 6 overs, but the fact that the required run rate was under control provided the batting side with a bit of relief. The batters tried to get to the target as early as possible, but the UAE bowlers didn’t let them have it for easy.
The bowlers did brilliantly pick wickets at regular instances, as the Netherlands were 3 down by the 10th over with the required run rate a little less than 6. The period between the 12th and 14th oversaw the Netherlands in deep trouble as they went from being at 71/3 to 76/6. A double strike from Junaid Siddique in the 14th over to remove Cooper and Van der Merwe turned the match on its head completely.
The skipper, Scott Edwards, held his nerves and combined with Pringle to add a much-needed 27 runs for the 7th wicket. With Pringle dismissed for 15 in the penultimate over, the Netherlands needed 9 runs off as many balls. Edwards, along with van Beek, scored the remaining runs of singles and doubles to help the Netherlands reach the target with 1 ball to spare. Bas de Leede was adjudged the man of the match for his brilliant spell of 3/19 in 4 overs.
