A spirited Netherlands bowling line-up bundled out Bangladesh for just 142 runs in Kolkata's Eden Gardens to register their second win of ICC ODI World Cup 2023. The World No 14 punched above their weight to secure a handsome 87-run infront of 15,000-odd crowd strongly rooting for their opponents.
Bangladesh wanted to revive their campaign after losing four games on the trot. But their batters once again came up with an insipid show as they were unable to cope with the extra bounce as the Netherlands bowlers, led by Paul van Meekeren (7.2-0-23-4), aced the conditions beautifully to bundle them out for 142 in 42.2 overs. Four single-digit scores from their top six batters summed up the plight of Bangladesh batters as they failed to live up to the expectations yet again.
The result meant the Netherlands, an associate ICC member, now sit above defending champions England and Bangladesh in the point table.
Dutch all-rounder Bas de Leede, who became the bowler to leak most runs in an ODI match against Australia in his team's last outing, made an outstanding comeback by sending back two Bangladesh batters and running out Mahedi Hasan (7-0-25-2). Hasan (17) and Mahmudullah (20) showed signs of gradually bringing their team back into the game before de Leede shocked with his sharp throw.
Bas de Leede's contribution of 17 runs with the bat also became pivotal in the context of the match.
Earlier, Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards overcame an edgy start to score a second World Cup fifty and take them to a modest 229 all out in their World Cup match against Bangladesh here on Saturday.
Desperate to revive their fortunes after four successive losses, Bangladesh made smart bowling changes and their attack looked incisive.
But complacency in fielding ensured that the Dutchmen lasted the distance after losing half of the side for 107 runs inside 27 overs.
Edwards got three lifelines as he was dropped twice on duck and once on 12 when his edge flew past the three-man slip cordon. He top-scored for the Dutch with an 89-ball 68.
With Sybrand Engelbrecht (35), Edwards added 78 runs for the sixth wicket before Mustafizur Rahman ended the Dutch skipper's chancy innings.
Towards the end, Logan van Beek played a cameo of 23 not out from 16 balls (2x4, 1x6) as the Netherlands scored 36 runs in the last three overs before being bowled out in the last ball of the innings.
Mustafizur (2/36) was the pick of Bangladesh attack and his wickets of the dangerous-looking Wesley Barresi (41) in the middle overs and the Dutch skipper at the death ensured Bangladesh restricted them to a manageable total.
The new-ball attack of Shoriful Islam (10-0-51-2) and a fit-again Taskin Ahmed (9-1-43-2) gave Bangladesh a perfect start after Edwards opted to bat in the first match of this World Cup at Eden Gardens.
Taskin, who missed their matches against India and South Africa because of a sore shoulder, dismissed Vikramjit Singh in his opening over.
Shoriful then had Max O'Dowd for a duck to have the Netherlands reeling at 4/2 in the third over before Baressi played the most entertaining knock of the Dutch innings.
The oldest player of the tournament, Barresi showed the way in his run-a-ball knock, milking the attack of Taskin and Shoriful in effortless fashion.
The 39-year-old, who is the only surviving member of the Netherlands side from the 2011 World Cup, started off with a leg-side flick to boundary against Shoriful and followed it up with another boundary in the same over to unsettle the rhythm.
Taskin looked at his tidy best in his first spell, but Barresi was nonchalant and pulled him in front of square leg and then elegantly lofted him over the mid-off region for two boundaries in one over.
The duo raced to a fifty-run partnership in no time before a clever bowling change in Rahman broke the stand.
The left-armer dismissed Barresi with a clever slower variation by rolling his fingers over the ball to break their partnership of 59 that came off 68 deliveries.
Shakib (10-1-37-1) then dismissed Colin Ackermann in the next over as the Dutch inning looked in disarray before Edwards's mid-innings revival.
- With PTI inputs