Netherlands put on a spirited performance against Pakistan in the third ODI but the latter's experience came to their rescue as Babar Azam's men avoided a major scare on August 21 (Sunday) and completed a 3-0 clean sweep by pocketing the final game of the series by nine runs.
Opting to bat first, the Men in Green were slow to get off the blocks as Vivian Kingma struck in the first ball of his spell to send Abdullah Shafique (2 runs off 5 balls) back to the pavilion. Skipper Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman (26 runs off 43 balls) steadied Pakistan's ship after the early blow and registered a 55-run stand before Logan van Beek broke a building alliance by disturbing Zaman's woodwork.
Pakistan's captain went on to notch his third consecutive half-century of the series but the number one ICC-ranked batter was far from his fluent best. Netherlands bowlers made life difficult for Pakistan's batters by hitting the right areas consistently. As a result, Pakistan kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were bundled out for 206 in 49.4 overs despite a gutsy knock of 91 runs in 125 balls by Babar Azam.
Bas de Leede was the pick of all Holland bowers, finishing with figures of 3/50 in nine overs. Kingma chipped in with two wickets while Aryan Dutt, Shariz Ahmad and van Beek bagged a wicket each.
Pakistan bowlers came out with a chip on their shoulders and reduced Netherlands to 37/3 by the 14th over mark. Just when it seemed like the Men in Green would amble towards an easy win, opener Vikramjit Singh and veteran Tom Cooper stitched a 71-run partnership for the fourth wicket, which infused life into the contest and put Pakistan under pressure.
Soon after reaching the half-century mark, Vikramjit (50 runs of 85 balls) threw his wicket away as Mohammad Wasim Jr sent the Holland opener back to the hut. The onus fell on Cooper to guide his team home from thereon but Pakistan pacers tighten the screw and kept chipping away at the wickets column.
From 172/6 to 197 all out, the hosts dug their own grave. Cooper (62 runs off 105 balls) failed to lead his team to the promised land as Wasim Jr and Naseem Shah proved too hot to handle.
Shah bagged his first fifer in ODIs and finished with figures of 5/33 in 10 overs while Wasim Jr ended the game with four wickets to his name in 9.2 overs.
