Medium pacer Paul van Meekeren claimed four wickets to lead an outstanding bowling performance as the Netherlands secured an 87-run victory over Bangladesh at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
Scott Edwards’ half-century helped the Dutch to a competitive score of 229 in a struggle of a first innings. But his bowling attack also took advantage of a helpful surface to leave Bangladesh’s reply in tatters, with the Tigers slipping to 142 all out.
With this win, the Netherlands, who had stunned South Africa earlier in the event, moved to eighth position with four points, placed ahead of Bangladesh and England, who have two points each. The Netherlands captain Edwards won the toss at Eden Gardens and gave his side the chance to get a score on the board.
But wickets fell in clusters as Bangladesh took control of the match through the first half of the first innings, with Taskin Ahmed particularly impressive. With the Netherlands in trouble, Edwards stood up with a captain's knock, hitting a fine half-century to help his team towards a total that kept them in the game.
And Paul van Meekeren led the way with the ball for the Dutch, taking 4-23 as part of a bowling unit that cranked up the pressure on an underperforming Bangladesh side. The Tigers suffered early setbacks in their search for 230 to win, with Litton Das the first to depart, caught behind off Aryan Dutt for cautious three from 12 balls.
And fellow opener Tanzid Hazan (15) joined him back in the dugout just an over later, with Edwards again taking the catch behind the stumps, this time off Van Beek. Bangladesh bedded down to recover from the early wickets but suffered another blow when Paul van Meekeren struck to remove Najmul Hossain Shanto for 9, leaving the Tigers 45/3 and in need of a significant rebuild.
The Netherlands' momentum continued apace as Shakib Al Hasan (5) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (35) were both prised out to leave Bangladesh 69/5 and needing something special to avoid defeat. The winning post moved a step closer when Mahedi Hasan was run out at the non-striker’s end in a moment that encapsulated both the brilliance of the Dutch and the off-colour nature of Bangladesh on the night.
Mahmudullah looked most likely to provide that special finish but was superbly caught by Dutt off De Leede for 20 to leave the Netherlands seemingly closing in on victory. And the final wickets came in quick time after a gutsy ninth-wicket stand, with Ackermann bowling Mustafizur Rahman and Van Meekeren returning to account for Taskin just two balls later.
The Netherlands were rattled early on in their innings and lost both their openers early. Vikramjit Singh (3) chipped one to mid-off off Taskin Ahmed, while Max O'Dowd (0) fished one outside off and ended up giving a catch to the slips off the bowling of Shoriful Islam.
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. His run-a-ball cameo came to an abrupt end when a clever slower ball from Mustafizur Rahman duped him into a sliced catch, with the batter departing for 41.
And Ackermann’s anchoring innings came to an end when he top-edged a sweep off Shakib Al Hasan for a 33-ball 15, leaving two new batters at the crease and attempting to rebuild. Bangladesh’s momentum continued when Bas de Leede walked having feathered an edge through to the keeper off Taskin for 17, not giving the umpire time to decide before heading back to the pavilion.
And with the Tigers well on top, it needed another lower-order rescue job from the Dutch to reach a competitive score, with Edwards putting together a terrific contribution at the other end. Edwards was finally dismissed for an excellent 68 from 89 balls.
And while Sybrand Engelbrecht (35) and Logan van Beek (23*) got the score beyond 200, it wasn’t the finish to the innings that the Dutch would have been hoping for.Shakib Al Hasan finished with 1-37 from his ten tight overs, while four other bowlers all took two wickets – Taskin Ahmed (2-43), Shoriful Islam (2-51) Mustafizur Rahman (2-36) and Mahedi Hasan (2-40).
Brief scores:
Netherlands 229 all out in 50 overs (Scott Edwards 68, Wesley Barresi 41; Shoriful Islam 2-51, Taskin Ahmed 2-42, Mustafizur Rahman 2-36, Mahedi Hasan 2-40) beat Bangladesh 142 all out in 42.2 overs (Mehidy Hasan Miraz 35; Paul van Meekeren 4-23, Bas de Leede 2-25)