Netherlands’ lower-middle order held its nerve to eke out a three-wicket victory over United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a ball to spare in a Round 1 Group A match of the ICC T20 World Cup here on Sunday.
While UAE struggled to reach 111 for eight in 20 overs, the total started looking menacing once the Netherlands was reduced to 76 for six by the 14th over, before it gathered its bearings.
It was Scott Edwards (16 not out) and Logan van Beek (4 not out) who kept their cool in the final over bowled by medium-pacer Zawar Farid as Netherlands scampered home for a single off the penultimate delivery of the match to start off on a winning note.
It was Pakistan-born Junaid Siddique (three for 24 in four overs), who dismissed Tom Cooper (8) and former South Africa-born IPL (Indian Premier League) player Roelof van der Merwe in three balls to bring UAE back in the game.
But, Tim Pringle (15), son of former New Zealand seamer Chris, and Edwards added 27 runs in five overs to take the Netherlands team closer to victory.
Incidentally, neither Pringle nor Edwards hit a single boundary in their seventh-wicket stand but the lack of scoreboard pressure allowed them to rotate strike with singles and doubles.
Earlier, when UAE batted, it could never really force the pace as Muhammad Waseem crawled to 41 off 47 balls. Deliveries worth more than 10 overs went in the account of dot balls as all the Netherlands bowlers were on the money.
Pacer Bas de Leede, whose father Tim had played the 1996 World Cup for the ‘Orange Brigade’, was the pick of the bowlers with three for 19 in three overs while opening bowler Fred Klaassen (two for 13) and Van der Merwe (one for 19), with his slow left arm orthodox, kept the total under check.
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