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The Dutch who are renowned for their football fervour, have also been playing the sport of cricket which predated football long before football gained traction and surpassed cricket. The game of bat and ball is being played since the nineteenth century and in the 1860s it was Netherlands’ major sport and in 1890 they formed their first official team. Today, the Netherlands have 6,500 cricketers with reports that show a steady rise in the popularity of cricket.
History of the sport
The Netherlands earned the Associate member status in1966 by the ICC and since then have appeared in 11 World Cup qualifier tournaments.
The Dutch have also punched their ticket to the cricket World Cups of 1996, 2003, 2007 and 2011 and made it to the T20 World Cups four times 2009, 2014, 2016 and 2019. They have been seen as one of the strongest underdogs among the associate teams.
The Dutch team then revelled in attaining full ODI status in 2006 before forfeiting it in 2014 owing to the calamitous World Cup qualifiers for the 2015 World Cup. However, after failing to qualify for the 2015 WC, the Dutch team redeemed their ODI status as they emerged victorious in the ICC World Cricket League Championship in 2017 and will hold on to it until 2022.
Netherlands in T20 WC mix
Netherlands had made it to the T20 World Cup in Australia, which is set to start from October 16, through the T20 World Cup Qualifier in Bulawayo. While they lost the final of the qualifier to Zimbabwe, Netherlands booked their place in Australia by appearing in the final.
Meanwhile, Netherlands secured a World Cup berth through the qualifier route. They have been placed in Group A alongside Namibia, Sri Lanka and the UAE. The top two teams from the group will qualify for the Super 12 stage and Scott Edwards’ side will want to be one of them.
Roelof van der Merwe and Colin Ackermann were notable additions to the Netherlands squad that took on New Zealand at home in the recent T20I series.
Scott Edwards will lead the side that has a strong pace attack with Brandon Glover, Timm van der Gugten, Logan van Beek and Paul van Meekeren. Ackermann is also a capable all-rounder who can bowl medium pace.
Previous outing in World Cups
Netherlands enjoyed best of tournament debuts in 2009 when they registered a victory over England at the Lord's in the opening match of the event.
The Dutch were chasing 163 runs for the win, and they got home on the very last ball of the fixture. Despite not making it out of their group on the virtue of net run-rate, they were positive signs to build upon for the future.
But, this succes did not follow them as they failed to qualify for the 2010 and 2012 editions of the tournament.
When they returned in 2014, they did so in style, topping their Round 1 group with wins over the United Arab Emirates and Ireland to qualify for the second stage. That win over Ireland was special as well as they chased down a total of 190 in less than 14 overs.
It was in the next stage that they once again managed to defeat England, winning by 45 runs this time around. Unfortunately for the team, the victory came in their final game of the tournament.
It was their last win in the second stage of a T20 World Cup having finished second in their Round 1 group in 2016, behind Bangladesh.
Netherlands' squad for T20 World Cup: Scott Edwards (c, wk), Colin Ackermann, Shariz Ahmad, Logan van Beek, Tom Cooper, Brandon Glover, Timm van der Gugten, Fred Klaassen, Bas de Leede, Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe, Stephan Myburgh, Teja Nidamanuru, Max O’Dowd, Tim Pringle, Vikram Singh.
