Pakistan successfully defended against the Dutch challenge today. Although the Netherlands displayed great determination, it wasn’t enough to secure victory. Their performance in restricting Pakistan to 286 runs was commendable.
Their innings started promisingly, with Vikramjit Singh playing fluently and capitalizing on loose deliveries. Despite O’Dowd and Ackermann’s inability to contribute significantly, Bas de Leede, a dependable player for the Netherlands, partnered well with Vikramjit and aimed to build a foundation for a potential historic chase. However, as Vikramjit tried to accelerate the scoring and fell, de Leede continued to hold his ground. Unfortunately, the Netherlands lost wickets quickly at the other end, causing them to be under significant pressure after losing three wickets in succession. De Leede eventually departed after scoring a well-made 67 runs. While Van Beek made some efforts with the bat, there were no other substantial contributions, resulting in the Dutch falling short by 81 runs.
Saud Shakeel was declared player of the match for his superb innings. Earlier, Netherlands captain Scott Edwards won the toss and opted to bowl first against Pakistan in the second match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 here at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday. With a 6-0 advantage in head-to-head matches, Pakistan enters the match as the overwhelming favourite. During the initial 10 overs of the game, the Netherlands’ fast bowlers excelled by taking three early wickets, including that of skipper Babar Azam. However, Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel formed a superb partnership that helped Pakistan recover from a slow start. Aryan Dutt made a breakthrough by dismissing Saud Shakeel, and Bas de Leede took charge from there, removing key Pakistan batsmen such as Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, and Hasan Ali, disrupting Pakistan’s batting lineup.
The Netherlands’ strong performance in the first 10 overs gave them an advantage, but the partnership between Rizwan and Shakeel played a pivotal role in Pakistan’s comeback. In the end, Pakistan scored 289 all-out in 49 overs.
