Guwahati: Netherlands defeated Zimbabwe easily by five wickets to reduce Zimbabwe’s prospects of moving on to the semifinals of the current T20 World Cup at the Adelaide Oval.
Max ODowd helped his team defeat Zimbabwe with ease with a brilliant half-century. Zimbabwe was put on hold after a fierce session from Paul van Meekeren during which he took three wickets.
The Netherlands openers attempted to make the most of the loose deliveries that were available when chasing the target while Max ODowd and Stephan Myburgh were initially on guard.
Blessing Muzarabani took Myburgh’s wicket in the fourth over, giving Zimbabwe their first wicket.
Then, to force Zimbabwe out of the match, Tom Cooper and ODowd put together a critical 73-run second-wicket partnership. Cooper made the most of moving up in the order and shown excellent intent at the plate.
After the first six overs, the batter boosted his team’s score to 35/1 by smashing a six and a boundary in the final over of the powerplay.
In the middle overs, O’Dowd also discovered his timing and scored boundaries at will. Without any setbacks, the pair led the team through the halfway point. The Dutch team’s 10-over score was 67/1 at the conclusion.
The Netherlands appeared to be cruising to win with both batsmen performing well in the middle overs. However, Luke Jongwe reappeared in the 13th over and dismissed Cooper for 32. (29).
O’Dowd was removed by Muzarabani in the 16th over for 52 (47), giving Zimbabwe some hope.
Ngarava took a wicket in the following over to put his team back in the game, but Bas de Leede scored the game-winning runs in the 18th over to ensure that Zimbabwe was eliminated from the competition.
Prior to then, Netherlands pacers controlled the ball and held Zimbabwe to 117. A decent score was amassed by Zimbabwe thanks to Sikandar Raza’s late burst because no batter could withstand the Dutch bowlers.
Zimbabwe chose to bat first, but they had a terrible start as they lost Wesley Madhevere to bowler Paul van Meekeren in the second over. Madhevere’s stumps rocked as he played all over the ball’s path. He was fired for one (5).
Only Sikandar Raza stood up to the Dutch bowlers, playing an aggressive innings of 40 off 24 balls, while Zimbabwe kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Max O’Dowd’s game-winning strike earned him the title of “Player of the Match.”
Brief Score: Netherlands 120/5 (Max O’Dowd 52, Tom Cooper 32; Richard Ngarava 2/18) vs Zimbabwe 117 (Sikandar Raza 40, Sean Williams 28; Paul van Meekeren 3/29)