New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) Netherlands captain Scott Edwards praised his side’s disciplined bowling display after they beat Namibia by seven wickets in their Group A clash of 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
Fast-bowling all-rounder Bas de Leede was the standout performer, scoring an unbeaten 72 and taking two wickets to become the first Dutch player to achieve the double of a fifty and two wickets in a T20 World Cup match.
His innings guided the Netherlands to complete a chase of 157, with two overs to spare, after restricting Namibia to 156/8. The victory marked the Netherlands’ biggest win in terms of wickets in T20 World Cup history and got their campaign back on track after a narrow defeat to Pakistan.
“Pretty good day I thought, I think we probably got a little bit of the better conditions there. I thought our guys bowled really well through the powerplay, and obviously taking those wickets late and restricting them to what we thought was a little bit below-par score,” he said in the post-game presentation ceremony.
Namibia’s batting line-up featured several left-handers, and Edwards was pleased with how his offspinners, especially young Aryan Dutt, handled the challenge. “We back our right-arm offies to bowl to all left-handers and right-handers, but it is nice when there’s a few left-handers through the middle there and we can sort of keep bowling that spin at them. So, I think in the end they actually negated it quite well, but I thought the bowlers all-round were quite good.”
On de Leede’s all-round performance, Edwards was effusive in his praise. “He does it all, doesn’t he? I thought he was sensational with the ball there, he obviously bowled his first over, I think, in about the 10th over there and just really took control of the game for us and then was pretty clinical with the bat as well.”
Edwards also highlighted the role of opener Michael Levitt, who struck 28 off 15 balls to give the chase early momentum. “He’s been massive for us over the last few years. I mean, he’s such an aggressive batsman. He’s got a lot of power behind him and he sort of puts bowlers off their lengths. So, he’s been really good. It was nice for him to get away there and I’m sure he’s got a real big one coming around the corner.”
Looking ahead, Edwards stressed the importance of their next fixture against the USA in Chennai. “Massive, obviously. I think we’ve got to win that game to give ourselves a chance. So we’ll be obviously travelling tomorrow and then getting really, getting ready for that game and hopefully put in a good performance.”
–IANS
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