World Cup: New giant-killers beat old giant-hunters as the Netherlands upset Bangladesh | Cricket-world-cup News

Bas de Leede stood still at deep midwicket after pouching the catch that sealed a famous win for the Netherlands, an 87-run victory over Bangladesh. His teammates on-rushed, among them the beaming Paul van Meekeren, the four-wicket hero, and it was soon a pile of orange shirts celebrating madly in the vast stadium, near deserted, as the draught Bangladesh fans had long filed out of the stadium.
They had turned up in numbers, waving their puffed tiger dolls and wearing their passion on their sleeve. With an overwhelming majority of the crowd behind them, it was as though Bangladesh were playing in Mirpur of Chattogram.
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A typically energetic crowd of 15,000 roared every wicket they took and every boundary they scored, in their pursuit of 230 runs. But they watched in utter horror the Dutch scythe through their batting. They did to Bangladesh what Bangladesh used to in the past, when they scalped big teams. No longer though.
In the first place, Bangladesh let the Dutch soar to 229 after they were teetering on 107 for 5. But Scott Edwards put in another remarkable batting effort to power them to a competitive total on a surface that aided spinners as the day wore on. Still, Bangladesh fans nursed no fears of an upset and were cheerful in the stands.
But drowning out the noise, Netherlands struck early to have them reeling at 15 for three. The thrifty Aryan Dutt consumed the under-firing Litton Das before Logan van Beek nailed Tanzid Hasan. The familiar van Meekeren struck the two vital blows, those of Najmul Hossain Shanto and Shakib Al Hasan. The former was lured into a wild waft outside the off-stump while the effort bowl that generated extra bounce accounted to Hasan. His attempt to play that was lazy too.
A Bangladesh supporter reacts during the Netherlands vs Bangladesh match at the Eden Garden, Kolkata on Saturday. (Express photo Partha Paul)
From 63 for 4, Bangladesh were in genuine strife. It only got worse from here, as Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mushfiqur too perished in no time. Suddenly, Bangladesh were reeling at 70/6. The Dutch were now beginning to sense hope and increased their intensity on the field, piling dot balls and ratcheting up the pressure. Mahedi Hasan and Mahmudullah, though, somehow took them past 100 before a direct throw from de Leede ended Hasan’s outings. And when de Leede nailed Mahmudullah, with the score 113 for 8, Bangladesh could feel the ground beneath them crack. Though they lower-order hung around, it was a matter of time before the defeat was confirmed.
Homegrown hero
Van Meekeren is one of the few home-grown players in the Dutch team. But sustaining his passion in the game was not easy. The pandemic time was tough. He should have been playing the T20 World Cup for Netherlands in November, 2020. Instead, he was delivering UberEats to pay his bills. He was released Somerset too. Initially he was not part of Netherlands’ squad for the ODI World Cup Qualifiers due to his county commitments but was later released his current club Gloucester. Tonight, that decision paid rich dividends.Most Read
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Bangladesh supporters react during the Netherlands vs Bangladesh match at the Eden Garden, Kolkata on Saturday. (Express photo Partha Paul)
Another familiar figure was their batting hero, Edwards. After electing to bat, Netherlands were reeling at 4-2, courtesy of Taskin Ahmed, who was returning from an injury layoff, when he drew first blood for Bangladesh in the second over when he snapped up Vikramjit Singh (3). The partner Max O Dowd (0) would also follow him shortly after nicking off Shoriful Islam in the next over. The Dutch’s nightmare start in the powerplay continued. Skipper Scott Edwards had said before the match that they would look to rectify the makes when it came to their top order. Unfortunately, as of Saturday, the issue still persed.
Wesley Barresi, the 37-year-old South Africa-born batsman—better remembered for a comment on Virat Kohli that “we’ll never see or hear from you again”, when the Indian was dismissed in the 2011 World Cup—steered the Dutch ship clear of relative danger before being dismissed for 41. In the space of adding 44 runs, they lost three more wickets. But enter the man for crisis. Edwards. Making full use to two reprieves, he led the rebuild, before Logan van Beek’s late charge took them to a competitive total, that would prove more than handy in the end
An ecstatic Edwards would later say: “We feel like we are putting the work in and we are getting some of those rewards. We spoke at the start of the tournament about giving us a chance at the semis and that looks tricky but that’ll remain our goal.” Whether they reach the last four or not, they have already made a splash this tournament.