Led by Bas de Leede’s all-round performance, the Netherlands got the better of Namibia in a convincing fashion by seven wickets to clinch their first win of the 2026 T20 World Cup. The Scott Edwards-led side climbed to the second spot in the points table with a positive net run rate.
2026 T20 WC: The Effort
Bowling first after winning the toss, the Netherlands picked up a wicket early in the game and restricted Namibia to 40 runs in the first six overs, courtesy of some disciplined bowling from both fast bowlers and spinners.
The Namibian batters found it difficult to get going in the first half of the innings, but were able to make up for it in the next couple of overs by adding 29 runs. However, the opposition bowlers were able to pull things back in the final few overs, with Bas de Leede leading the comeback with two wickets. As a result, Namibia was restricted to 156 runs after the end of 20 overs.
2026 T20 WC: The Missed Opportunities
As far as Namibia’s batting performance is concerned four of the top five batters got off to a decent start but were not anle to convert them into a significant score which led to the team falling short of what could have been a challenging total against Netherlands which is known to struggle against spin on a surface which wasn’t easy for batting considering that it was a day game.
2026 T20 WC: The Performers
When it comes to the Netherlands’ bowling performance, it was a combined effort with every bowler contributing in different phases of the Namibian batting innings, with Bas de Leede getting good support in the form of Aryan Dutt, Logan van Beek and Fred Klaassen.
2026 T20WC: The Reply
Chasing 157 runs to win, Netherlands, like Namibia, got off to a slow start but did not look under any sort of pressure due to the score that they were chasing and were guided by half century from the bat of Bas delete who remained unbeaten on 72 and was given company by Colin Ackeraman. The duo added 70 runs for the fourth wicket, taking the Dutch close to the target, which was overhauled by captain Scott Edwards.
2026 T20 WC: The Bowling
The Namibian bowlers, although picked up a couple of early wickets in the second innings, the lack of runs on the board meant that they needed to keep striking at regular intervals, which they were not able to do.
2026 T20 WC: The Implication
As mentioned above Netherlands have now moved to the second spot in the points table and are just behind India with a positive net run rate, while Namibia will look to rectify the mistakes they made when they face India.
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