The Netherlands beat Bangladesh by 87 runs at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Saturday. The Dutch won the toss and chose to bat first. Bangladesh bowlers gave them a good start as they lost wickets at quick intervals and were 63/4 at one stage. Skipper Scott Edwards again came to the rescue for his side and scored a brilliant half-century for the Men in Orange.
This was their second win in the World Cup. They came back after suffering a humiliating loss against Australia in the last match. Edward's side had already defeated South Africa and it was their second win against them in a major tournament, previously they beat them in the T20 World Cup 2022.
They posted 229 runs, the Bangla Tiger bowlers performed superbly. Mustafizur Rahman, Mahedi Hasan, Shoriful Islam, and Taskin Ahmed picked two wickets each. But the Bangladesh batters failed to have an impact and were bowled out under 150 runs.
Netherlands create history
The Dutch got off to a poor start, losing both openers Max O’Dowd and Vikramjit Singh in the first three overs. Wesley Barresi and Colin Akermann stitched an important 59-run partnership. The former scored a run-a-ball 41 runs. Edwards and Bas de Leede's 44-run partnership gave them to score past 150 runs. Some runs by Logan van Beek and Sybrand Engelbrecht made sure they went past the 200-run mark. They were bowled out for 228 runs.
In response, Bangladesh batters never looked in control and lost wickets at regular intervals. Mehidy Hasan was the highest run scorer for them scoring 35 runs. The middle order collapsed and they were bowled out for just 142 runs. Paul van Meekeren picked up four wickets for the Dutch and was adjudged the man of the match. He said, "Pretty special. We said we wanted to go for the semis, you need to win games. Very happy with how we bounced back after Australia. We were pretty confident. At the halfway mark of our innings, we thought 230-240 [par score] and we got there. Dutt and van Beek kept it very tight in the first ten overs. Every training we come in and do 20 minutes of fielding. Bassy [Bas de Leede] got a good throw at the stumps tonight. Hard to pick an individual performance. Pure team performance."
Here's how fans reacted
Saying it again Netherlands is a good team and Pakistan beating Netherlands was the first biggest upset of this World Cup 😂 pic.twitter.com/V7Sm6xnvEI
— Cricket XTREME (@CRICKET_GOAT) October 28, 2023
Netherlands deserved this victory.
— Mukul (@mukuljakhar07) October 28, 2023
Netherlands lost to Pakistan
— Guri Pbks (@Guri_Pbks) October 28, 2023
Biggest upsets in this world cup 💔
It's not an Upset Netherlands have more Quality than Kangladesh
— ANSH. (@KohliPeak) October 28, 2023
Massive Victory for Netherlands. By far the best team in the tournament as compared to Bangladesh and Pakistan 💥💥💥
— Indian Stats & Index (@statsfeed_india) October 28, 2023
the city of joy will echo with the happiness of Netherlands.
— Abhinav singh (@Abhinav_tmk) October 28, 2023
Pakistan was lucky because of Hyderabad's highway pitch
— Soni Raj Singh (@SRKkiSoni) October 28, 2023
All I want is to see Netherlands Finish in top 8 and make it to the champions trophy in 2025
— Priyanga Praveen (@mpravin003) October 28, 2023
This one is hilarious 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/bYwE2tBUCk
— Jago India (@JagoIndia_) October 28, 2023