New Zealand secured two victories in as many matches, while the Netherlands suffered their second consecutive loss. Opting to bowl first, the Netherlands began with three maiden overs but couldn’t manage an early breakthrough.
Although the top five New Zealand batters all made promising starts, with three of them reaching half-centuries, In response, most of the Netherlands batters showed promise, but only Colin Ackermann reached fifty. He formed a 50-run partnership with Teja Nidamanuru, but a misunderstanding between them led to Nidamanuru’s dismissal.
Ackermann was then accompanied by captain Scott Edwards, and they kept the scoreboard ticking. However, Santner, who had conceded 36 runs in his first five overs, returned to take two crucial wickets. He removed Ackermann and Edwards in consecutive overs, extinguishing any hopes for the Netherlands. Mitchell Santner was declared player of the match for his outstanding performance. Earlier, the Netherlands won the toss and opted to bowl first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad.
Outstanding half-centuries from Rachin Ravindra, Will Young, Tom Latham, and a fiery cameo by Mitchell Santner in the end helped New Zealand post a challenging total of 322/7 against the Netherlands in the ongoing ICC World Cup here at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday. Young scored the most runs for the Kiwis with 70 runs, while Rachin and Latham played decent knocks of 51 and 53, respectively. Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren, and Roelof van der Merwe bagged two wickets each for the Netherlands. The Netherlands bowlers gave their best in the match as they kept taking wickets, keeping a tight hold on leaking runs. Openers Devon Conway and Will Young refused to slow down and opened their arms with a barrage of strokes. Young was the first one to open his tally with two stylish boundaries in the third over of the game. Young then went on to hit a four and a six in the fifth over, gathering 11 runs in Aryan Dutt’s over.
Conway took charge from the sixth over, and soon the Kiwis were hammering boundaries against the Dutch.
Roelof van der Merwe broke the 67-run partnership stand as Conway was caught in the deep off in the 13th over of the game.
The left-handed batter Rachin Ravindra then joined forces with Young to keep the New Zealand run flow alive. In the 20th over, Young brought up his half-century in 59 balls.
Will Young’s outstanding stay at the crease was cut short by Paul van Meekeren in the 27th over of the game. Young went back to the pavilion after scoring 70 runs off 80 deliveries.
