Netherlands moved closer to the Super 12 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup after their narrow win over Namibia at Kardinia Park.
Bas de Leede managed to hold Netherlands’ chase together as his side reach the target of 122 with five wickets and three balls to spare.
The win over Namibia is the second for the Netherlands in as many games positioning them perfectly for a spot in the second stage of the T20 World Cup.
After their upset win over Sri Lanka, Gerhard Erasmus chose to bat again but his team failed to replicate the previous match’s performance reaching a below-par 121/6 against the Dutch.
Jan Frylinck scored 43 of the 121 runs for his side with Michael van Lingen (20) and Stephan Baard (19) as the other major contributors.
Scott Edwards, meanwhile, decided to use 7 bowlers for the Netherlands with the later-named Man of the Match Bas de Leede picking up two wickets for his side.
An easy win was on the cards for the Netherlands as Vikramjit Singh (39) and Max O’Dowd (35) took off 59 runs from the target for the first wicket before de Leede and O’Dowd added a further 33 to bring the target ever closer.
Things unravelled quickly though as O’Dowd was runout in the 14th over before three more quick wickets brought Namibia back into the game. However, de Leede managed to keep his composure to find the boundary on the first ball of the last over when his side needed 6 runs to steer them home safely without further losses.
The Netherlands now sit atop Group A with four points with Namibia in second with two. Sri Lanka and UAE, the other teams in the group, play each other later today looking for their first wins.
