Bas de Leede's All-round Show Helps Netherlands Book Last Spot in 2023 ODI World Cup

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Last Updated:July 06, 2023, 20:16 IST

Bas de Leede scored 123 after taking 5-52 to help the Netherlands book their spot in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 with a five-wicket win over Scotland

The Netherlands' Bas de Leede at the ODI World Cup qualifiers (Twitter/CWC)

A magnificent all-round performance by Bas de Leede secured The Netherlands the final spot in the Cricket World Cup after they beat Scotland by five wickets on Thursday.

De Leede struck a brilliant 123 after taking 5-52 in the Scottish innings.

Netherlands decision to bowl first after winning the toss was vindicated when Logan van Beek removed the dangerous Matthew Cross in the first over for a two-ball duck. Christopher McBride and Brandon McMullen looked to stabilise the innings but Bas de Leede broke the fledgling stand as both Scottish openers were sent back to the hut.

Less than four overs later De Leede dismissed George Munsey to leave Scotland on 64/3 in 15 overs. However, Brandon McMullen who had had plenty of time to adjust to the situation took control of the match. He bided his time, punishing the bad balls and eventually brought up his fifty. He accelerated after achieving the milestone and along with Richie Berrington put Scotland in a strong position. The duo put on a 137-run stand for the fourth wicket – Scotland’s highest ODI partnership for any wicket against Netherlands and McMullen scored his second century of the tournament.

Netherlands finally got a breakthrough with McMullen edging it to the keeper off Ryan Klein for 106 but not before pushing Scotland past the 200-run mark. Meanwhile Berrington too brought up a fine half-century. He was bowled by de Leede on 68 in the 45th over.

De Leede struck twice in the 49th over slowing down Scotland’s progress. He completed a five-wicket haul, his first in ODIs.

Scotland set Netherlands a competitive target of 278.

Netherlands started patiently in their chase but there were a couple of early scares. The Dutch openers ththough completed a half-century opening stand. However, Scotland did well to keep things tight and were rewarded when Michael Leask trapped Max O’Dowd breaking the 65-run partnership. Leask then removed the other opener Vikramjit Singh in his next over to rattle Netherlands further.

Batting hero McMullen gave his team more hope as he dismissed Wessly Barresi, reducing Netherlands to 93/3 in the 20th over. And Chris Greaves struck to send back Teja Nidamanuru at the half-way mark. The tempo was slow at the start.

And with Scott Edwards falling in the 31st over to Mark Watts, Scotland were very much in the game. However, Bas de Leede stood strong at one end bringing up his fifty. As the qualification scenario loomed large, the pressure was on the Dutch to accelerate.

Zulfiqar provided the perfect support to de Leede as he began chipping at the runs initially in just ones and twos. When the equation reached 45 off 24 balls, de Leede decided to shift the momentum and it was Watt who had to bear the brunt of the Orange Onslaught.

De Leede hit back-to-back sixes to bring up a fantastic century and third six in that over was hit by Zulfiqar to quickly ease the pressure considerably.