T20 World Cup: Netherlands achieves first win over Namibia

Bas de Leede impressed with both bat and ball as the Netherlands opened their T20 World Cup account with a convincing seven-wicket win over Namibia.

The Netherlands were narrowly beaten by Pakistan after handing their rivals a huge score in their opening match of the tournament in Colombo on Saturday but came back impressively in Delhi.

Chasing a target of 157, all-rounder De Leydi, who has already picked up two key wickets for Namibia, made an unbeaten 72 off 48 balls to take them home with a bang.

It is their biggest win in the history of the tournament while De Leede became the first Dutch cricketer to score a half-century and take two wickets in the same match of a T20 World Cup.

Sent to bat in their first match of the tournament, Namibia got off to a good start as they reached 60-1 in their nine overs before Logan van Beek dismissed Jan Vrielinek, who scored 30 off 26 balls.

Namibia’s momentum was further halted by De Leyde, who brought back their skipper Gerhard Erasmus and JJ Smit for 18 and 22 respectively, while Nicole Lofty-Eaton fell to Van Beek after a 38-ball 42 as they posted 156-8.

Holland lost opener Max O’Dowd early in the chase, but a 70-run third-wicket partnership between De Leede and Colin Ackerman stabilized their innings before the latter departed for 32.

However, there was no stopping De Leddy as he hit five fours and four sixes to seal the win for the Netherlands.

The Netherlands will play the United States in its next match on Friday, while Namibia will play defending champion India on Thursday.