Netherlands defeated Namibia by 5 wickets in the fifth match of the first round in the T20 World Cup 2022. Playing first, Namibia scored 121/6 in 20 overs, in reply Netherlands scored 122/5 with three balls to spare. Bass de Leed (30 runs and 2 wickets) of the Netherlands was adjudged Player of the Match for his all-round performance
Electing to bat after winning the toss, Namibia had a poor start and opening batsman Devan La Kock was not even given a chance to open the account by Tim Pringle. Second opener Michael van Lingen also went on after scoring 20 runs in 19 balls. Yann Nicole Lofty-Eaton’s wicket fell in the sixth over and he was dismissed for a total of 32 without opening an account.
From here, Stephen Bard (19) along with Yann Frylinck took the score to 63. Captain Gerhard Erasmus (16) and Frylinck took the innings forward as they added 41 runs for the fifth wicket to take the score past the hundred. Frylinck scored 48 runs with the help of a four and a six and was the highest run-scorer for the team. Bass de Leede was the most successful bowler for the Netherlands and took two wickets.
Chasing the target of 122 runs, Netherlands started well. The opening pair of Max O’Dowd and Vikramjeet Singh put on 59 runs for the first wicket. Vikramjeet scored 39 runs in 31 balls. On the other hand, O’Dowd scored 35 runs in 35 balls before being run out. A few wickets fell but Bas de Leed, who came out to bat at No. 3, held one end and scored an unbeaten 30 off 30 balls to give his team victory. Tim Pringle also returned unbeaten on 8 runs. JJ Smit made two breakthroughs for Namibia.
This is the second win for the Netherlands in two matches in the first round and the team is at the top of its group. In such a situation, the chances of the team going into the Super 12 have increasetd a lot.
