Cricket: The Netherlands grabs the last spot in the ICC World Cup 2023

Grand all-round performance by Bas de Leede helped the team in the Orange to take the last berth in the ICC World Cup Cricket Tournament to be played in India from October 5.

He put up a terrific display of his both bowling and batting skills to send  the Netherlands cruising into the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

Bas de Leede has thus become only the fourth player in men’s ODI history to pick up a five-for and score a century in the same match.

For the Netherlands it was yet another historic match as they knocked out Scotland and booked their tickets for the World Cup in India. It was the better net run rate that saw the Dutch through as both the Netherlands and Scotland have the same number of points from five games – three wins each – but the former had better run quotient to go through.

The Netherlands chased down the target of 278 in just 42.5 overs.

The Dutch won the toss and elected to bowl to make the most of morning conditions and with Net Run Rate permutations at play, and both teams went in with the same playing XI.

Netherlands’ decision to bowl first after winning the toss was vindicated when Logan van Beek removed the dangerous Matthew Cross in the first over for a two-ball duck.

Christopher McBride and Brandon McMullen looked to stabilise the innings but Bas de Leede broke the fledgling stand as both Scottish openers were sent back to the pavilion.

Less than four overs later De Leede dismissed George Munsey to leave Scotland on 64/3 in 15 overs. However, Brandon McMullen who had had plenty of time to adjust to the situation took control of the match.

He bided his time, punishing the bad balls and eventually brought up his fifty. He accelerated after achieving the milestone and along with Richie Berrington put Scotland in a strong position. The duo put on a 137-run stand for the fourth wicket – Scotland’s highest ODI partnership for any wicket against Netherlands and McMullen scored his second century of the tournament.

Netherlands finally got a breakthrough with McMullen edging it to the keeper off Ryan Klein for 106 but not before pushing Scotland past the 200-run mark. Meanwhile Berrington too brought up a fine half-century. He was bowled by de Leede on 68 in the 45th over.

De Leede struck twice in the 49th over, slowing down Scotland’s progress. He completed a five-wicket haul, his first in ODIs.

Scotland set a competitive target of 278.

Netherlands started patiently in the chase of 278. There were a couple of early scares but the Dutch openers completed a half-century opening stand. However, Scotland did well to keep things tight and were rewarded when Michael Leask trapped Max O’Dowd breaking the 65-run partnership. Leask then removed the other opener Vikramjit Singh (40) in his next over to rattle Netherlands further.

Batting hero McMullen gave his team more hope as he dismissed Wessly Barresi, reducing Netherlands to 93/3 in the 20th over. And Chris Greaves struck to send back Teja Nidamanuru at the half-way mark.

The tempo was slow at the start. And with Scott Edwards falling in the 31st over to Mark Watts, Scotland were very much in the game. However, Bas de Leede stood strong at one end, bringing up his fifty. As the qualification scenario loomed large, the pressure was on the Dutch to accelerate.

Zulfiqar provided the perfect support to de Leede as he began chipping at the runs initially in just ones and twos. When the equation reached 45 off 24 balls, de Leede decided to shift the momentum and it was Watt who had to bear the brunt of the Orange Onslaught.

De Leede hit back-to-back sixes to bring up a fantastic century and the third six in that over was hit by Zulfiqar to quickly ease the pressure considerably.

Two more sixes came the next over to almost guarantee the Dutch win and while de Leede was run-out in the next over, Logan van Beek came and hit the winning runs to the delight of his teammates.

Now, both the qualifiers have been taken. Both Sri Lanka and the Netherlands would be heading for India to join the eight main qualifiers for the 10-nation ICC World Cup 2023 starting on October 5.