Scott Edwards-led Netherlands are off to a flying start as they edged past UAE by three wickets in last-over thriller of the T20 World Cup's Group A match on Sunday (October 16).
Chasing a lowly target of 112-run, Netherlands were tested by UAE but at the end they managed to get over the line with one ball to spare at Simonds Stadium in Geelong.
Earlier, de Leede returned with an impressive figure of 3/19 in Geelong as Netherlands restricted UAE to 111/8 in 20 overs.
Muhammad Waseem hit 41 while Vriitya Aravind scored 18 runs for UAE. De Leede was the star for Netherlands in the first innings with Fred Klaassen also helped the team's cause with figures of 2/13.
UAE's faltering batting
CP Rizwan's decision to bat first after winning the toss didn't turn out to be fruitful for the UAE as their batters couldn't adapt well to the conditions in Geelong, with Netherlands restricting them to 111/8.
The track wasn't that easy to bat on as the ball was gripping off the surface. The UAE batters tried to hang around with hopes of accelerating later in their innings but Bas de Leede shone with the ball, picking up three wickets in the 19th over to halt UAE's progress completely. He finished with figures of 3/19 while left-arm seamer Fred Klaasen also registered good bowling figures of 4-0-13-2.
Muhammad Waseem, who scored an unbeaten 69 in the warm-up match for UAE, was their top scorer in this match once again as he made 41 from 47 deliveries. The next best score in their innings was Vriitya Aravind's 18 as UAE never got any momentum going in their innings.
Max O'Dowd's robust start
Max O'Dowd Threatens to take the game away
It's very difficult to defend anything less than 120 in T20 cricket and more so when the chasing team gets off to an excellent start in the powerplay. It looked like Netherlands' were walking away with the match when Max O'Dowd was batting.
The opener played some explosive shots and made 23 from 18 deliveries he faced. Even though they lost his wicket in the last over of the powerplay, the Dutch were still well placed to chase the target down with their score being 42/2 at the end of the first six overs.
UAE bowlers bounced back
UAE didn't have much to defend but their bowlers didn't give up. They bounced back after Junaid Siddiqui, who claimed a five-for in the warm-up match, dismissed O'Dowd just towards the end of the powerplay. The bowlers tightened their lines and lengths after that and the Dutch batters found it difficult to score runs.
Although both Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann got off to good starts and tried to hang around, they got dismissed soon for 14 and 17 respectively. But the real turning point came when Siddique bowled a brilliant 14th over to send both Tom Cooper and Roelof van der Merwe back to the pavilion. Netherlands were reduced to 76/6 and the chase got even more difficult for them at this point.
Scott Edwards' composure rallied Oranges to finishing line
UAE were suddenly back in the match after that sensational over from Siddiqui but skipper Scott Edwards kept his composure and kept Netherlands in the game with a crucial 27-run stand with Tim Pringle.
Even after Pringle got dismissed in the 19th over, with Netherlands still needing nine to win, Edwards hanged around to see his side through. He didn't try to go for any big shot, rather he showed the sense to just hit the gaps and look for the singles. He remained unbeaten on 16 from 19 deliveries as Netherlands won the match with three wickets and a ball to spare.
