Netherlands pulled off another historic win to beat Bangladesh in the 28th match of the ICC World Cup 2023 on Sunday, October 28. Captain Scott Edwards scored another fifty to help Netherlands put in a challenging total of 229 runs while batting first and then impressive spells from Bas de Leede and Paul van Meerkeren produced a huge 87-run win.
Both teams entered the game with an outside chance to finish in the top four having won just one game in their first five games. Edwards won the toss and elected to bat first in the first game of the edition at Kolkata's iconic Eden Gardens.
Taskin Ahmed gave Bangladesh an early breakthrough with Vikramjit Singh's wicket in the second over and then the left-arm pacer Soriful Islam dismissed Max O'Dowd in the next over to put the Dutch side under pressure. Wesley Barresi and Colin Ackermann provided a balance with a 59-run stand for the third wicket with the former scoring crucial 41 runs off 41 balls.
Edwards turned up for his team once again with his second fifty in the tournament as he scored 68 runs off 89 balls. Sybrand Engelbrecht added 77 runs for the sixth wicket but Bangladesh bowled made a late comeback to restrict Netherlands to 229 runs in 50 overs.
In-form spinner Aryan Dutt gave Netherlands a perfect start with Litton Das' valuable wicket in the fifth over and pace all-rounder Logan van Beek dismissed Tanzid Hasan in the next over to take the driving seat. Bangladesh's middle order's struggles continued with Najmul Shanto and captain Shakib Al Hasan failing to make an impact.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mahmadullah tried to balance the game but were not able to convert their starts into big knocks. Mehidy top-scored with 35 runs as Bangaldesh's innings collapsed on just 142 runs in 42.2 overs. Paul van Meekeren took four wickets for just 23 runs to bag the Player of the Match award while Bas de Leede picked two for Netherlands.
A win boosted Netherlands to eighth position in the points table while Bangladesh slipped to ninth place with just two points after six games.
Bangladesh Playing XI: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam
Netherlands Playing XI: Vikramjit Singh, Max ODowd, Wesley Barresi, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Bas de Leede, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Logan van Beek, Shariz Ahmad, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren
