Rotterdam - Netherlands produced a compelling performance to come close to beating Pakistan in the final match of the series in Rotterdam on Sunday, but the visitors held their nerve to win by nine runs and seal a 3-0 series victory. Not for the first time in the series, the Netherlands bowlers impressed with the new ball, not letting Pakistan’s top-order run away with the game. Vivian Kingma prized out debutant Abdullah Shafique, but Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam rebuilt for Pakistan.
However, Netherlands managed to find a breakthrough when Logan van Beek cleaned up Zaman in the 18th over. Agha Salman gave Babar fine company as the skipper completed his ninth fifty-plus score in his last 10 innings.
Pakistan lost three wickets in quick succession in the middle overs as Netherlands made a strong comeback. Salman, Khushdil Shah and Mohammad Haris were dismissed in the space of 31 runs. Babar continued edging close to a hundred, but he couldn’t eventually get there as a stunning return catch from Aryan Dutt ended his knock, nine short of a ton.
Bowling Pakistan out for 206, Netherlands fancied their chances with the bat to chase down the target. Naseem Shah continued to make a strong impression on the tour as he sent back Max O’Dowd and Musa Ahmed inside the first 10 overs to give Pakistan a rousing start. The 19-year-old speedster was in fine rhythm and finished his first spell with figures of 5-0-14-2.
He returned later at a crucial point in the game to clean up skipper Scott Edwards and added another wicket, that of Teja Nidamanuru, later to break a threatening half-century stand. Naseem finished with career-best figures of 5 for 33, bringing Pakistan back into the contest every time he came on with the ball. Naseem was ably supported by Mohammad Wasim, who picked up the big wickets of Vikramjit Singh and Tom Cooper to finish with a four-wicket haul.
Led by opener Vikramjit and in-form Cooper, Netherlands pushed Pakistan in the run chase. Vikramjit completed his second half-century in the series while Cooper made it three fifties in three outings. However neither innings was quite enough to give Netherlands the final push needed for a win.
While Vikramjit’s innings came to an end on 50 as he nicked Wasim to the wicketkeeper, Cooper kept Netherlands in the hunt until late in the run chase, only to miscue a slog off the same bowler in the 46th over to be dismissed for 62.
Netherlands’ tail pulled them close to the target, but they eventually couldn’t cross the final hurdle. The fight did not yield the result they sought, but despite the 0-3 loss, the hosts showcased some exemplary cricket right through the series.
Scores in brief
Pakistan 206 (Babar Azam 91; de Leede 3-50, Vivian Kingma) beat Netherlands 197 (Tom Cooper 62, Vikramjit Singh 50; Naseem Shah 5-33, Mohammad Wasim 4-36) by 9 runs.
However, Netherlands managed to find a breakthrough when Logan van Beek cleaned up Zaman in the 18th over. Agha Salman gave Babar fine company as the skipper completed his ninth fifty-plus score in his last 10 innings.
Pakistan lost three wickets in quick succession in the middle overs as Netherlands made a strong comeback. Salman, Khushdil Shah and Mohammad Haris were dismissed in the space of 31 runs. Babar continued edging close to a hundred, but he couldn’t eventually get there as a stunning return catch from Aryan Dutt ended his knock, nine short of a ton.
Bowling Pakistan out for 206, Netherlands fancied their chances with the bat to chase down the target. Naseem Shah continued to make a strong impression on the tour as he sent back Max O’Dowd and Musa Ahmed inside the first 10 overs to give Pakistan a rousing start. The 19-year-old speedster was in fine rhythm and finished his first spell with figures of 5-0-14-2.
He returned later at a crucial point in the game to clean up skipper Scott Edwards and added another wicket, that of Teja Nidamanuru, later to break a threatening half-century stand. Naseem finished with career-best figures of 5 for 33, bringing Pakistan back into the contest every time he came on with the ball. Naseem was ably supported by Mohammad Wasim, who picked up the big wickets of Vikramjit Singh and Tom Cooper to finish with a four-wicket haul.
Led by opener Vikramjit and in-form Cooper, Netherlands pushed Pakistan in the run chase. Vikramjit completed his second half-century in the series while Cooper made it three fifties in three outings. However neither innings was quite enough to give Netherlands the final push needed for a win.
While Vikramjit’s innings came to an end on 50 as he nicked Wasim to the wicketkeeper, Cooper kept Netherlands in the hunt until late in the run chase, only to miscue a slog off the same bowler in the 46th over to be dismissed for 62.
Netherlands’ tail pulled them close to the target, but they eventually couldn’t cross the final hurdle. The fight did not yield the result they sought, but despite the 0-3 loss, the hosts showcased some exemplary cricket right through the series.
Scores in brief
Pakistan 206 (Babar Azam 91; de Leede 3-50, Vivian Kingma) beat Netherlands 197 (Tom Cooper 62, Vikramjit Singh 50; Naseem Shah 5-33, Mohammad Wasim 4-36) by 9 runs.
