Ferdous, Sharmin take Bangladesh past Netherlands

Bangladesh 141 for 4 (Ferdous 50, Sharmin 37*, de Lange 2-27) beat Netherlands 139 for 8 (de Leede 50, Marufa 2-31) by six wickets

A lively Netherlands side that had players dancing in the huddle at the innings break put up a dazzling display on their T20 World Cup debut to give seven-time participants Bangladesh a scare in the first game of the Sunday double-header in Birmingham. Their batting effort was led by the captain Babette de Leede’s 45-ball half-century to post 139, followed by four wickets for 18 runs after Bangladesh’s powerplay. But Bangladesh’s experience eventually showed as Shorna Akter and Sharmin Akhter saw them home with a steady stand of 56 off 44 balls.

Netherlands’ nervy start

Netherlands were off to a steady start while the Bangladesh bowlers searched for swing but didn’t find much of it. Leading the pace attack, Marufa Akter used the scrambled seam in the absence of swing and had Phebe Molkemboer edge behind for 11 with her fourth ball. De Leede, at No. 3, started nervously, also beaten on her first two balls by Marufa, before settling down with her confident strokes.

De Leede leads the way

Netherlands could have been dismissed for a much smaller total from 76 for 5 after 12.1 overs, but de Leede countered with her drives, sweeps and confident footwork against the spinners. She went past run a ball with back-to-back fours through the covers off Sanjida Akter’s left-arm spin in the 14th over and kept the fielders in the deep busy with her search for twos. Her next target was Fariha Trisna, whom de Leede slapped through the covers for her fifth boundary while the bowler also strayed down leg for five wides to leak 14 in the 16th over, which ended with the run-out of Frederique Overdijk, with a direct hit from Shorna.

De Leede got to her eighth half-century in T20Is and her first of the year in the next over but she fell short on the same ball, searching for a quick second run in the death overs, also falling to Shorna’s strong arm. Netherlands were again in a bit of strife, on 115 for 7 with 21 balls to go. But Iris Zwilling and Silver Siegers propelled them to 139 with an unbroken stand of 23 from 17 balls.