Haris Rauf and co made a strong comeback as Pakistan stave off the Dutch threat they won the match by 81 runs to register their first victory of the World Cup. Haris Rauf bowled with some sheer pace as he took 3 wickets and conceded 43 runs in his 9-over spell
The Netherlands showed a great bowling display and also showed some resistance with the bat but could not handle the pace attack of Pakistan as they crumbled at the end under pressure situation. There are some positives for the Dutch going forward into this World Cup their bowling looks very steady.
It’s Pakistan taking on the Netherlands in the second game of the World Cup. The Netherlands got to the perfect start with the ball after electing to bowl first in Hyderabad. The Netherlands skipper made the right call by bowling spinners in the power play in fact the very first over was bowled by the spinner as they kept the pressure on the Pakistani batsman and picked up three quick wickets.
Bas de Leede 4 and the spinners shine for the Netherlands
Bas de Leede was the star for the men in orange as the speedster bowled a brilliant spell and took wickets at regular intervals with ease bowled with great control in his line and length and finished with the best bowling figures of 4 for 62 in 9 overs.
The other bowlers also did their job brilliantly, especially the spinners who used the pitch to their advantage and put pressure on the Pakistan batsman as Colin Ackermann picked up two vital wickets. Shakeel and Rizwan rescued Pakistan with a fabulous 120-run partnership for the 4th wicket as both of them did some sensible and responsible batting before departing for the same score of 68 runs back-to-back to the duck out
Shadab Khan and Nawaz did some late hitting in the death overs as Pakistan got some lucky boundaries in the last few overs to guide them to a respective total of 286 as they got all out in 49 overs. The Netherlands got off to a Steady start in their chase of 287 giving a tough fight from the Dutch army.
Pakistan’s bowlers rattle through the Netherlands’ batting order
Pakistan bowlers made a statement comeback after the 30th over of the match, especially after the partnership of 70 runs between Vikram Singh and Bas de Leede as the duo completed the half-centuries respectively as Vikram Singh scored a well-made 52 off 67 balls with 4 fours and a six while his partner Bas de Leede scored a brilliant 67 off 68 with 6 fours and 2 sixes.
Haris Rauf had a fantastic start to his second spell as he took back-to-back wickets which rattles the Dutch confidence as they say in cricket one brings two and two brings three as he finishes with the best match figures of 3 for 43 in his 9 overs.
Shaheen Afridi also did the same thing as Haris Rauf came back and struck straight away this is some ruthless pace from the duo of Haris and Afridi. Hasan Ali also did his role superbly as he picked up the vital 2 wickets along with the spinners taking a wicket each as the Dutch bundled out for 205.