In the opening match of the Sunday doubleheader in Birmingham, a dynamic Netherlands team that had players dancing in the huddle during the innings break put on a stunning display in their T20 World Cup debut, giving seven-time competitors Bangladesh a scare. Babette de Leede, the skipper, led their batting effort with a half-century off 45 balls to score 139. After Bangladesh's power play, she took four wickets for 18 runs. However, in the end, Bangladesh's experience paid off as Shorna Akter and Sharmin Akhter led them to victory with a solid 56 off 44 balls.
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| Bangladesh got off to a strong start thanks to Juairiya Ferdous |
Before the crucial India vs. Pakistan match in the afternoon, it was practically a drama in the making in front of a small crowd at Edgbaston. The Netherlands decided to bat on the same strip where England had scored 219 against Sri Lanka in the first match of the competition, but they frequently lost wickets near de Leede. In response, Bangladesh's opener Juairiya Ferdous, who made her T20I debut earlier this year, came out with the sole intention of smashing boundaries and setting up victory with her two sixes and seven fours in Bangladesh's most successful chase in T20 World Cups.
The nervous start of the Netherlands
The Bangladeshi bowlers looked for swing but found nothing, while the Netherlands got off to a steady start. Leading the pace attack, Marufa Akter had Phebe Molkemboer on edge behind her for 11 with her fourth ball by using the jumbled seam in the absence of swing. De Leede, at number three, began uneasily and was likewise defeated by Marufa on her opening two balls before settling in with her assured strokes.
Heather Siegers took the lead early on, but she was unable to hold onto the lead past the fifth over after edging left-arm pace bowler Fariha Trisna behind for a deft catch by standing-up Nigar Sultana. At the beginning of the eighth over, Rabeya Khan smashed the top of the off stump for her 50th T20I wicket, stunning Sterra Kalis. De Leede could only watch wickets fall at the other end. After the midway point, Robine Rijke and Sanya Khurana fell in the space of six balls, leaving the Netherlands reeling as their run rate began to decline towards six runs per over.
De Leede takes the lead
After 12.1 overs, the Netherlands should have been removed for a considerably lower score of 76 for 5, but de Leede overcame the spinners with her drives, sweeps, and assured footwork. In the fourteenth over, she hit consecutive fours through the covers off Sanjida Akter's left-arm spin, going beyond a run a ball. Her pursuit of twos kept the fielders in the deep occupied. Her next target was Fariha Trisna, whom de Leede smashed through the covers for her fifth boundary. The bowler also drifted down leg for five wides to leak 14 in the 16th over, which concluded with Frederique Overdijk being run out by a direct hit from Shorna.
In the following over, De Leede reached her ninth half-century in Twenty20 Internationals and her first of the year, but she was dismissed by Shorna's powerful arm while attempting a swift second run in the final overs. With 21 balls remaining, the Netherlands were once again in a bit of trouble, at 115 for 7. However, they reached 139 thanks to an uninterrupted stand of 23 from 17 balls by Iris Zwilling and Silver Siegers.
In the chase, Ferdous takes off
Ferdous seems to have only one goal in mind: to swing large and mostly on the leg side. After a calm first over, she hit her first boundary after missing her first two heaves against Zwilling's swing. When Kalis caught her at deep midwicket in the second over, she may have been out on seven, but the third umpire controversially declared her not out, claiming to have seen the ball grassed. In the third over, Ferdous took advantage of Zwilling by pushing him for two fours. In the following over, Ferdous punished her with back-to-back fours, one off the edge and the other down the ground, after Robine Rijke made a difficult return catch, giving her another chance.
After the first six, Dilara Akter joined the fray by taking on Silver Siegers in the following over. Ferdous's persistent pursuit of boundaries on the leg side and down the ground gave her another one in the power play, propelling them to 46 for 0. Ferdous hit two sixes over midwicket as she began to connect more frequently, but she was dismissed as soon as she reached her 32-ball half-century.
Spinners from the Netherlands respond
After that, Caroline de Lange struck twice and completed a hat-trick. To finish the eighth over, she had Ferdous caught at point and went under Nigar Sultana's bat with plenty of flight and dip.
With Dilara caught behind, De Leede believed Heather Siegers had struck the next ball, but a review reversed the on-field ruling. With four boundary-less overs, the Netherlands maintained the pressure and gradually increased the asking rate to seven per over. In the eleventh over, Silver Siegers moved wide of the crease and turned one away from Dilara's bat to hit off stump. In the following over, Overdijk executed a swift turn and direct hit to dismiss Sobhana Mostary.
Sharmin restored the flow of boundaries to calm some tensions as Shorna played a steady hand, needing 55 from 48. Strong fieldwork and several bowling changes kept the Netherlands in the game, but they were unable to pull off an upset as Shorna scored the game-winning runs.
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