It seems that the Netherlands’ dream run continues in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, as they registered a thumping win against Bangladesh. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Dutch bowler Paul van Meekeren said, that it was a special day for the team.
He added that Aryan Dutt and van Beek kept things tight in the powerplay. Meekeren added that it was an all-round performance against Bangladesh. “Pretty special day. We’ve said earlier we want to go till the semis, and for that, we need to win games. Very happy with the way we bounced back against Australia. At the halfway stage, 230-240 would have been par we reckoned. Aryan Dutt and van Beek kept things tight in the powerplay. We’ve been working on our fielding, every training session, we do 20 minutes of fielding drills. It was an all-round performance; it was pretty tough to pick a Man of the Match. Scott Edwards and Sybrand Engelbrecht got a bit of momentum for us by building that partnership. Pure team performance tonight,” Meekeren said.
With this loss, Bangladesh is out of contention to qualify for the semis in the World Cup, having lost five of six matches. The Netherlands has won two games, lost four and with four points is in the eighth spot.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan said that they bowled well in the game against the Netherlands but should have restricted the opponents to 160-170.
Shakib added that he is not sure what’s going on in the minds of the players. The skipper praised the fans and said that they have been supporting the team throughout their ups and downs.
“I thought we bowled very well. We should have restricted them to 160-170. We have been very poor with the bat throughout the tournament. This is as bad as it gets. It is very difficult from here. We need to take this on our chin. Throughout this tournament, we have been struggling. Not sure what’s going on the minds. Very unlike the Bangladesh team. The fans have been supporting us through our ups and downs,” Shakib said.
The Netherlands opted to bat first and were bundled out for 229 in their 50 overs. Skipper Scott Edwards (68 in 89 balls with six fours) and Wesley Barresi (41 in 41 balls) were the key batters for Dutch.
Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Mahedi Hasan took two wickets each.In the run chase of 230 runs, Bangladesh was never a threat and was bundled out for 142 in 42.2 overs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz (35) was the top run-scorer for Bangladesh.
Paul van Meekeren (4/23) was the ‘Player of the Match’ for his match-winning figures.
