Sports Desk
NEW DELHI: India have restricted the Netherlands team to 250 runs, beating them by 160 runs in the 45th match of the ongoing ICC ODI World Cup.
India have registered the score of 410 against the Netherlands. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul scored centuries and propelled their side to register a mammoth total against the Netherlands.
Earlier, India lost both their openers in quick succession after a breezy start to the last World Cup cricket 2023 group match against the Netherlands in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Shubman Gill was the first wicket to fall to Paul van Meekeren after a quick-fire half century at team total 100. He hit four sixes and three fours in his 32-ball innings of 51 before Teja Nidamanuru took a smart catch.
Captain Rohit Sharma was equally dashing as he scored 61 runs off 54 deliveries before falling to Wesley Barresi. His knock was laced with eight fours and two sixes.
In-form batsman Virat Kohli was batting on 50 and Shreyas Iyer on 30 with total 200 runs on the board when this report was filed.
Earlier, India won the toss and decided to bat.
India, the only unbeaten team in the 10-team group, is keen to remain unconquered at the ICC men’s event.
The Netherlands – the only non-test-playing nation in the tournament – sprang an upset on semi-finalists South Africa and also beat Bangladesh to register two wins at a World Cup tournament for the first time.
The Dutch team had come through a gruelling qualifying campaign, beating the likes of the West Indies and Scotland to seal the final spot in the 10-team tournament in India, where they are bottom of the table but could still finish higher up the standings.
India have taken all before them so far at the World Cup, having rarely been troubled on their way to eight wins from eight matches.
It looks like a clash between David and Goliath with the Netherlands languishing on the bottom of the standings, but it would be unwise for the tournament hosts to underestimate the Dutch.
The talented Netherlands outfit showed they are up to the class when they upset South Africa earlier in the tournament and their victory over Bangladesh was equally impressive.
They will however need all their star players to be at their best to topple India, with the performances of Bas de Leede, Max O’Dowd, Logan van Beek and skipper Scott Edwards to be pivotal to their hopes.
The Netherlands too have their own lure, with a victory likely to move them into the top eight places on the standings and one of the qualification spots for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025.
Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav.
Netherlands: Scott Edwards (c), Max O’Dowd, Bas de Leede, Vikram Singh, Teja Nidamanuru, Paul van Meekeren, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Noah Croes, Wesley Barresi, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmad, Sybrand Engelbrecht.
Key players
India – Virat Kohli
A half-century against the Netherlands will see Kohli catapult past South Africa’s Quinton de Kock and New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra and become the leading run-scorer at the tournament, but it is triple figures that the former India captain will be stiving most for.
If Kohli can score his third century of the ongoing Cricket World Cup it will be the 50th ODI ton of his career and take him past Sachin Tendulkar for the most centuries in the history of the format.
Netherlands – Bas de Leede
The star of the Netherlands line-up has shown glimpses of his best at the World Cup thus far and will be hoping he can put it all together on the big stage when the Dutch take on the tournament hosts.
While de Leede has been the Netherlands’ most effective bowler at the tournament with 14 wickets thus far, the all-rounder has been down on his usual output with just 127 runs with the bat from eight knocks.
If de Leede can contribute a big score then there is every chance the Netherlands can take it up to their more fancied opponents.
