The Netherlands had won the toss and decided to bat first and bowled out 186 while half-centuries from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan set them back on course, before an energetic appearance from Agha Salman applied the final touch, Pakistan getting home with 16.2 overs in excess.
The Netherlands had won the toss and decided to bat first. The Netherlands was struggling with the bat and lost the wickets very early. From Pakistan, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf put the Netherland to the back forward, reducing the home side to 8 for 3 inside four overs.
Netherland wanted someone who provide them with a great knock and made a partnership. Cooper and de Leede gave the Netherlands feel that those early wickets were not substantially more than a rough beginning, impairing their side on course pleasantly.
They didn’t go into their shells, Cooper establishing the vibe quickly when he snared Naseem behind the wicket for six in the 6th over and crushed the final ball of that over through the leg side for another boundary.
There was an element of fortune and a rare sign of sloppiness from the Pakistan bowlers in the same over, when Naseem had Cooper gotten, just for the umpire to find he had overstepped.
The run rate was improving and they made a partnership of 100 runs, Netherlands appeared to be back on track for the score they might have aimed for at the start.
Nawaz sent the Cooper to the pavilion and provide a great breakthrough for the side, and Pakistan’s bowlers were on top again, de Leede observing powerlessly on as the visitors went through the other end.
With Netherlands nine down, de Leede pulled out all the stops. When de Leede on 89, Rauf offered him a slower delivery in the slot a gift he confounded it to Fakhar Zaman at long-on, and the Netherlands fell well short of par.
Pakistani openers also couldn’t start the innings very well and lost their wickets. Aryan Dutt and Vivian Kingma tying Fakhar and Imam-ul Haq down right on time.
This time, the home side guaranteed they eliminated the pair before any harm should be possible, with Kingma’s double-strike in the fourth over putting Pakistan under pressure.
The quick bowler inspired one to raise off a length and become enormous on Fakhar, who spooned it back to him before Imam was gotten at point driving on the up.
A score like the one Netherlands posted in the principal ODI could have heaped the tension on, however with only 187 to pursue, there was little justification for the experienced Babar and Rizwan to overreact. The early fire was seen off carefully and Pakistan soon started to wrest back absolute control.
The early loss of the openers gave Pakistan a little panic, but half-centuries from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan set them back on course, before an energetic appearance from Agha Salman applied the final touch, Pakistan getting home with 16.2 overs in excess.
“We have a good start with the fast bowling and a little bit moisture and the fast bowlers bowled very well in the first 10 overs and took wickets and later on spinners Shadab and Nawaz bowled very well and took wickets. We wanted to bowl first. Definitely because in the morning it had moisture on that’s why I told you we’ll be bowling first because of a different type of pitch. Credit to the fast bowlers and spinners. (On Salman Agha) We are trying different combinations and Agha’s second match and has shown his class and playing more games and they have more confidence and belief they play very well and today and looking forward to the next match”
Says Babar Azam.
“I think at the start, we knew it was gonna be a little bit at the start and we probably went a little bit too hard. Three down in the first ten, always hard to come back from I thought Tommy and Bas were awesome. And then we just needed someone to go with Bas there at the end. We were sort of thinking around 250 would have had us in the game. Even if Bas and Tom had probably got another 5-10 overs in probably could have adjusted up from there. But as it was we just couldn’t get going in the lower order. (On raw pace and facing finger spin) I think the wicket this week does play well for finger spinners and he was getting quite a bit out of the surface. So yeah, it’s disappointing to probably hand a few wickets away throughout the innings. I think there’s a lot of a positive still to take. But it’s the same thing. We just want that win so, building on where we are and hopefully get that win on Sunday,”
says Scott Edwards.
Pakistan 314 for 6 (Fakhar 109, Babar 74, de Leede 2-42) beat Netherlands 298 for 8 (Edwards 71*, Cooper 65, Naseem 3-51) by 16 runs.