A lively Netherlands side that had players dancing in the huddle at the innings break put up a dazzling display on their T20 World Cup debut to give seven-time participants Bangladesh a scare in the first game of the Sunday double-header in Birmingham. Their batting effort was led by captain Babette de Leede's 45-ball half-century to post 139, followed by four wickets for 18 runs after Bangladesh's powerplay. But Bangladesh's experience eventually showed as Shorna Akter and Sharmin Akhter saw them home with a steady stand of 56 off 44 balls.
It was almost a thriller in the making in front of a sparse crowd at Edgbaston before the big India vs Pakistan clash in the afternoon. The Netherlands chose to bat on the same strip where England had amassed 219 against Sri Lanka in the tournament opener, but lost wickets regularly around de Leede. In reply, Bangladesh opener Juairiya Ferdous, who made her T20I debut earlier this year, came out with the sole intent of hitting boundaries and set up victory with her seven fours and two sixes in Bangladesh's biggest successful chase in T20 World Cups.
Netherlands' nervy start
Netherlands were off to a steady start while the Bangladesh bowlers searched for swing but didn't find much of it. Leading the pace attack, Marufa Akter used the scrambled seam in the absence of swing and had Phebe Molkenboer edge behind for 11 with her fourth ball. De Leede, at No. 3, started nervously, also beaten on her first two balls by Marufa, before settling down with her confident strokes. Heather Siegers led the scoring early on but couldn't stay beyond the fifth over as she edged left-arm pace bowler Fariha Trisna behind for a sharp catch by Nigar Sultana standing up. De Leede could only watch wickets fall at the other end as Sterre Kalis was stunned by a ripping first delivery from Rabeya Khan, who hit top of off stump for her 50th T20I wicket at the start of the eighth over. The Netherlands' run rate was dipping towards six an over, and Robine Rijke and Sanya Khurana fell in the space of six balls after the halfway mark to leave them reeling.
De Leede leads the wayThe
Netherlands could have been dismissed for a much smaller total from 76 for 5 after 12.1 overs, but de Leede countered with her drives, sweeps, and confident footwork against the spinners. She went past running a ball with back-to-back fours through the covers off Sanjida Akter's left-arm spin in the 14th over and kept the fielders in the deep busy with her search for twos. Her next target was Fariha Trisna, whom de Leede slapped through the covers for her fifth boundary while the bowler also strayed down leg for five wides to leak 14 in the 16th over, which ended with the run-out of Frederique Overdijk, with a direct hit from Shorna. De Leede got to her eighth half-century in T20Is and her first of the year in the next over, but she fell short on the same ball, searching for a quick second run in the death overs, also falling to Shorna's strong arm. The Netherlands were again in a bit of strife, on 115 for 7 with 21 balls to go. But Iris Zwilling and Silver Siegers propelled them to 139 with an unbroken stand of 23 from 17 balls.
Ferdous takes off in the chase
Ferdous, it seemed, had just one aim: to swing big and mostly on the leg side. She missed her first two heaves against Zwilling's swing and collected her first boundary after a quiet first over. She could have been out on 7 in the second over when Kalis caught her at deep midwicket, but the third umpire contentiously gave the decision not out, saying she saw the ball grassed. Ferdous cashed in by muscling Zwilling for two fours in the third over. She got another life in the next over when Robine Rijke put down a tough return catch, and Ferdous punished her too with back-to-back fours, one down the ground and the other off the edge.
