Netherlands beat UAE by 3 wickets in a low scoring thriller

The Netherlands have kicked off their T20 World Cup campaign in style as they beat the United Arab Emirates by 3 wickets in their opening game.

The 2nd game of the tournament in the round one fixture of group A ended in a low-scoring fixture where the Netherlands got the better of their opponents. UAE elected to bat first after winning the toss and had a slow start to their inning and started losing wickets once the powerplay was finished.

The slow run rate was already an issue with wickets tumbling at the other end for the batting side. The Dutch bowlers kept things very tight and never allowed batters to play freely.

Muhammad Waseem played a 41-run inning but took too many balls to become the highest scorer for his team. No other batter managed to cross the 20-run mark as UAE managed to post a total of 111 runs in their 20 overs.

Bas de Leede was the standout bowler for the Netherlands as he took 3 wickets for just 19 runs in his 4 overs. Fred Klaassen provided impressive support and took 2 wickets with Tim Pringle and Van der Merwe getting a single wicket each.

Chasing the target, the Netherlands also weren't clinical with the bat as they lost both their openers inside the powerplay. Even after getting the start, no batter managed to convert it into a well-settled inning as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

The Netherlands at a point were looking clueless at 76-6 when they had a crucial partnership of 27 runs for the 7th wicket between Pringle and skipper Scott Edwards.

With 6 needed in the last over Netherlands somehow managed to reach the target with 3 wickets in hand. Edwards who remained unbeaten on 16 runs hit the winnings runs and ensured a 3-wicket thrilling victory for his team.

Junaid Siddique was brilliant with the ball and took 3 wickets for just 24 runs in his quota of 4 overs but wasn't enough for his team to get over the line. Basil Hameed, Ayan Afzal, Karthik Meiyappan, and Zahoor Khan provided great support as they found a single wicket each.

Bas de Leede for his amazing bowling performance was adjudged as player of the match. Netherlands have strengthened their foot for the qualification of the super 12 stage as they will next face Namibia and Sri Lanka in their group A fixtures.