ODI World Cup 2023: Netherlands scored 179 runs against Afghanistan
Sybrand Engelbrecht scores a half-century but with no support from other batters, the Netherlands only managed to score 179 runs against Afghanistan.
Afghanistan faced off against the Netherlands in a crucial encounter with respect to the current ongoing ODI World Cup as well as the 2025 Champions Trophy. The Netherlands won the toss and elected to bat first. The Dutch made two changes to their playing 11 replacing Vikramjit Singh and Shariz Ahmed with Saqib Zulfiqar and Roelof van der Merwe. Afghanistan on the other hand strengthened their spin attack by bringing in Noor Ahmad replacing Naveen ul Haq. The Netherlands scored 179 runs against Afghanistan. Here is a recap of the first innings.
Netherlands go big in the powerplay
Mujeeb ur Rahman opened the bowling and was right on the mark in his first over. He picked up his 100th ODI wicket dismissing Wesley Barresi on the fifth ball of the match. Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled without any real control and conceded the first four of the match in just the second over. Farooqi continued to be expensive and went on to concede eight fours in his opening spell of five overs. Max ODowd after having a slow start to the tournament was among the runs today scoring nine fours in the powerplay. Mujeeb too was hit for runs as the Netherlands scored 66 runs in the first powerplay.
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Afghanistan back in the game
In just the second over after the powerplay, the Netherlands lost a wicket via runout. ODowd was dismissed thanks to a great direct hit at the keeper’s end from Azmatullah Omarzai. ODowd scored 42 runs in just 40 balls hitting eight fours. Rashid Khan came into the attack in the 16th over as runs started to dry up for the Dutch side. The Netherlands continued to lose the plot and gifted another wicket to Afghanistan as Colin Ackermann in the 19th over. Ackermann scored 29 runs in 35 balls hitting four fours. Skipper Scott Edwards was for a golden duck on the very next ball through yet another runout.
Mohammad Nabi dismissed Bas de Leede in the 21st over. Nabi created pressure on the Dutch side through constant dot balls and bowling economically. The veteran all-rounder conceded just nine runs off his first five overs.
Quick wickets put the Netherlands in the backseat
Noor Ahmad came into the attack in the 24th over. He made an immediate impact with a wicket in just his second over. Noor dismissed Saqib Zulfiqar who scored just three runs in 15 balls. Sybrand Engelbrecht got lucky twice in two balls with two outside edges going through the first slip’s hands in the 28th over.
Logan van Beek was having trouble facing the Afghan spinners and he was finally put out of his misery by Nabi. Nabi dismissed him in the 31st over. Van Beek charged down the pitch but missed the ball completely and was stumped out by Ikram Alikhil. Van Beek scored two runs in 13 balls. Engelbrecht smashed two consecutive fours against Noor to bring up his half-century in the 32nd over. Engelbrecht scored his fifty in 74 balls.
The Netherlands continued to implode and lost another wicket through runout. Engelbrecht after playing a fine knock was dismissed with a needless runout. Engelbrecht scored 58 runs in 86 balls hitting six fours. The Netherlands almost lost their ninth but a review from Roelof van der Merwe saved him as Rashid came close to picking up his first wicket. Rashid bowled out his 10 overs and ended with the figures of 10-0-31-0. Noor picked up his second wicket as van der Merwe was dismissed in the 42nd over. Van der Merwe scored 11 runs in 33 balls.