The Netherlands prevailed over USA twice in two weeks in a near similar script. The USA batters exposed their frailties yet again against a probing fast bowling attack that broke the back of their straightforward chase for the second time in a row. The Dutch found a new hero in their defence of a miniscule total of 206, in fast bowler Kyle Klein. The 23 year old's incisive new ball spell pegged USA back in what should have been a cakewalk of a chase with the batting depth they possessed. Klein ended with match figures of 4 for 32 to bag his first Player of the Match in their 27-run victory. USA captain Monank Patel stood tall with a lone hand in form of a spectacular innings of 66 of 79 deliveries but couldn't avoid the inevitable after the Dutch sent half the USA side back with more than 100 runs to go.
Vivian Kingma made sure USA got off to an unfortunate start after Steven Taylor lashed lousily outside off to a ball that straightened a bit to take his inside edge. The former captain has now had nine ODI outings without a half-century to his name, and his second duck of the tournament. Smit Patel, who found himself in prime form with a couple of half-centuries against Canada and gutsy 38 against the Netherlands in the previous game, seemed at sea in his edgy little stay at the crease. Klein got an in dipper through his defence to thud his front pad in line to liberate him from his misery. The bowler came back in his next over to deploy similar tactics against Aaron Jones as he pinned him in front to leave USA in disarray at 39 for 3. Milind Kumar failed to recreate the heroics of his previous encounter against the Netherlands as he chopped one onto his stumps against an innocuous Paul Van Meekeren delivery.
After a reprieve at short-midwicket on his second delivery, Monank batted like a breath of fresh air amidst the muddle he found himself around in. While the Dutch kept making inroads at the other end, the USA captain counter attacked with supreme confidence on an up and down wicket. The confidence was largely aided by his watertight technique that held him in good stead to see off the good balls and pounce upon anything loose as he did with his five neatly struck boundaries in the PowerPlay.
A steady fifth wicket stand with Shayan Jahangir saw him shift gears with the introduction of spin. He glided one through short fine to bring his half century before tonking Aryan Dutt over cow corner. With USA needing about 100 runs at a leisurely asking rate of 4, Jahangir ran himself out mindlessly to jolt USA again. Monank departed two overs later, sending one straight back to Dutt to leave an uphill task for the lower order that hasn't inspired much confidence on this tour.
Harmeet Singh flayed the Dutch briefly with a couple of sixes but it was curtains for USA virtually after Van Meekeran had him balloon one to mid off with still 70 more needed. Klein returned to wrap up the tail in similar fashion as he did with the new ball, dipping in full and straight.
The paltry ask of 207 was set up by the brilliance of the USA bowlers who have been on the money throughout, unlike the batters. USA opted for Nosthush Kenjige's left-arm spin to start the proceedings with the new ball in slightly overcast conditions. He was out of the attack once Michael Levitt launched for him for a six down the ground in the third over of the innings. Levitt's effervescence with the bat was in direct contrast to Max O'Dowd's doggedness at the wicket. Levitt found himself on a role with five more boundaries to his name in the PowerPlay, quickly racing to 31 before chopping one off Abhishek Paradkar.
Vikramjit Malik's uppish drive off Milind Kumar triggered a mini collapse which saw the Dutch lose three wickets for 17 runs. Steven Taylor castled Musa Ahmed off a quickish arm ball before Juanoy Drysdale edged off the Netherlands captain and the thorn in USA's flesh last game after the Dutch fell in a similar heap of misery. O'Dowd continued his painstaking vigil, reaching his half-century off 103 deliveries with a clip through the leg side off a full toss against Drysdale.
O'Dowd's struggles at the other meant Noah Croes had to hit top gear from the onset. A cracking flash through point on his third delivery of the innings spurred him on to operate with a vibrant in his approach. A well executed reverse sweep off Harmeet catapulted him to 27 in no time but the left-arm spinner had his revenge the next ball with a leading edge that went to short-midwicket. Harmeet kept the choke on for the Netherlands as he induced a false stroke off Klein who he had tied up for nine previous deliveries without a run.
With four overs to go and only 198 on the board, O'Dowd couldn't provide the finishing punch the Dutch would've hoped for. They sensationally lost the final four wickets for eight runs as Shadley Van Shalkwyk and Kenjige shared the honours with two apiece to rob the Netherlands off a final flourish. O'Dowd gathered 77 runs in his marathon innings of 126 deliveries which proved to be enough at the end for a burgeoning Netherlands that rampaged to their fourth win on the trot in the tri-series.
Brief scores: Netherlands 207 all out in 49.1 overs (Max O'Dowd 77; Harmeet Singh 2-25, Nosthush Kenjige 2-33) beat USA 179 all out in 45.5 overs (Monank Patel 66; Kyle Klein 4-32, Paul van Meekeren 3-31) by 27 runs Netherlands trounced USA by 27 runs to win match 24 of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 in Rotterdam on Wednesday, August 21. With the win, the Netherlands further solidified themselves at the top of the points table with six wins from eight matches. Scotland, placed at number two, have accumulated nine points courtesy of four wins and two defeats in seven games.
Canada and Namibia are ranked third and fourth respectively on the eight-team standings for securing eight points each. Canada is placed higher on the table owing to a superior NRR of -0.139. After losing to the Netherlands, the USA failed to advance from their fifth position and is currently holding an NRR of 0.09.
Oman takes the sixth spot on the points table for their solitary win in four attempts. Nepal, also with one win, is ranked seventh. Winless UAE continues to languish at the bottom of the points table after three successive defeats.
Batting first, Netherlands openers Michael Levitt and Max O'Dowd shared 58 runs for the first wicket in 12.1 overs before the former was cleaned up by Abhishek Paradkar (1/33). Despite losing three more wickets in the next 10 overs to Milind Kumar, Steven Taylor, and Juanoy Drysdale; opening batter O'Dowd marched on to compile 77 runs from 126 deliveries.
The cricketer belted six boundaries in the process and took his team past the 200-run mark. For the USA, Nosthush Kenjige (2/33) and Shadley van Schalkwyk (2/32) bundled out the Dutch for just 206.
Chasing 207, USA lost four of its top five batters with just 58 runs on the board. Vivian Kingma (1/41) and Kyle Klein struck early for the Netherlands before USA captain Monank Patel fought back with a valiant 66. Klein eventually demolished the USA batting order with a four-wicket haul at just 179. Paul van Meekeren also played his part by collecting figures of 3/31 to secure a 27-run win for Netherlands.
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