ASHLEY DUBE
Netherlands delivered a remarkable performance to secure their place in the 2023 Men's ODI Cricket World Cup in India on Wednesday, stunning Scotland to a 4-wickets victory in the process. Led by Bas de Leede's outstanding all-round display, Netherlands restricted Scotland to 277 for 9 with De Leede getting his maiden five-wicket haul.
To qualify, Netherlands had to chase down the target in 44 overs to surpass Scotland's net run-rate. Despite being in a difficult position midway through the match, de Leede's incredible innings of 123 off 92 balls, his first ODI century, propelled Netherlands to victory with four wickets to spare.
This will be Netherlands' fifth appearance in the Men's ODI World Cup, with their last participation in the 2011 edition.
De Leede's outstanding performance made him only the fourth player in Men's ODI history to score a century and take five wickets in a single match, overshadowing Brandon McMullen's equally impressive hundred for Scotland.
Earlier, Scotland's Scott Edwards chose to bowl, anticipating favorable conditions for seamers in the first hour.
Logan van Beek quickly dismissed Matthew Cross' bowling him out in the opening over.
Christopher McBride and McMullen then stabilized Scotland's innings, avoiding the loss of another wicket in the first ten overs.
While McBride struggled with timing, McMullen appeared comfortable, using his footwork effectively to disrupt the Netherlands seamers' lengths.
McMullen reached his hundred off 106 balls, with a punched four through extra cover off van Beek. Together with Richie Berrington they added 137 runs off 135 balls for the fourth wicket.
Scotland had reached 200 in the 38th over and were aiming for a total beyond 300.
However, late strikes from Klein and de Leede restricted Scotland. Klein first dismissed McMullen caught behind and then left Michael Leask's stumps in disarray, reducing Scotland to 207 for 5.
Berrington held one end up and completed his half-century but couldn't provide the necessary momentum as Scotland set the Dutch 278 to win.
Netherlands' openers Max O'Dowd and Vikramjit Singh provided a solid start of 65 runs in 12.4 overs before Michael Leask trapped both leg before wicket in successive overs.
The quick loss of Wesley Barresi and Teja Nidamanuru further diminished Netherlands' chances, leaving them requiring 170 runs in 20 overs to qualify.At that stage, de Leede was on 19 off 30 deliveries.
With their backs against the wall, de Leede launched an aggressive assault. He started by hitting a six off Watt and then collected two fours off Safyaan Sharif a few overs later.
Saqib Zulfiqar also found boundaries occasionally to keep Netherlands in line with the required run-rate. With 45 runs needed in four overs, the match was evenly poised.
It was at this point that de Leede went into overdrive, hitting four sixes in the span of ten balls, Zulfiqar also hit one maximum. One of those hits brought de Leede to his hundred off just 85 balls.
By the time he was run out, Netherlands required only two runs from 11 balls, leaving Logan Van Beek secure the winning single as Netherlands punched their ticket to the Cricket World Cup.
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