Bas de Leede starred with each bat and ball because the Netherlands opened their account within the T20 World Cup with a convincing seven-wicket victory over Namibia.
The Netherlands suffered a slim defeat by Pakistan after giving their opponents a significant rating within the opening recreation of the match in Colombo on Saturday however bounced again impressively in Delhi.
Chasing a goal of 157, all-rounder De Leede, who had already picked up two key Namibia wickets, crafted an unbeaten 72 from 48 balls to information them dwelling with authority.
It’s their greatest win within the match’s historical past whereas De Leede grew to become the primary Netherlands cricketer to attain a half-century and take two wickets in the identical match of a T20 World Cup.
Despatched to bat of their first recreation of the match, Namibia made a good begin reaching 60-1 in 9 overs earlier than Logan van Beek dismissed Jan Frylinck, who scored 30 off 26 balls.
Namibia’s momentum was additional halted by De Leede, who despatched again their captain Gerhard Erasmus and JJ Smit for 18 and 22 respectively, whereas Nicol Loftie-Eaton fell to Van Beek after a 38-ball 42 as they posted 156-8.
The Netherlands misplaced opener Max O’Dowd early within the chase, however a 70-run third-wicket partnership between De Leede and Colin Ackerman steadied their innings earlier than the latter departed for 32.
Nevertheless, there was no stopping De Leede as he hit 5 fours and 4 sixes to seal the Netherlands win.
The Netherlands play the US of their subsequent match on Friday whereas Namibia will tackle defending champions India on Thursday.
