New Delhi, Feb 10 (IANS) When Bas de Leede entered the Netherlands bowling attack, Namibia were cruising at 94/2 in 12 overs on a sticky pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton was at 38 off 33 balls, while captain Gerhard Erasmus looked dangerous in hammering 18 off eight balls – 16 of which came in the previous over off Timm van der Gugten.
It was upto de Leede to try and give Netherlands the breakthrough. On his second ball in the game, de Leede justified that call when on his short of length ball, Erasmus didn’t get the required elevation and was caught by a jumping mid-wicket. In his next over, de Leede again had a big wicket – a back of a length ball on off stump cramped JJ Smit, another dangerous striker of the ball while playing the late cut and could only see the top of the stumps being clipped.
De Leede’s spell of 2-9 in two overs was like the jabs of a boxer landing well in a bout, as Namibia ended at a below-par 156/8. It also helped that his match-up against right-handed batters worked well by astute bowling rotation from skipper Scott Edwards. It wasn’t to be the first time in the morning game when de Leede gave Netherlands a slight upper hand.
When Max O’Dowd and Michael Lewitt fell in power-play in a chase of 157, de Leede took his time before opening up to hit nine clean boundaries and be unbeaten on 72 off 48 balls at a strike-rate of 150. A standout aspect was him getting 36 runs through mid-wicket and long-on regions.
That knock, also the joint-highest individual score for Netherlands at the Men’s T20 World Cup, helped de Leede bag Player of the match award, as he became first player from his country to score a fifty and take two wickets in the same T20 World Cup match.
Asked by IANS in the post-game press conference on how he mastered the pitch conditions to put in an all-round performance, de Leede talked about adapting his bowling and batting on the fly as per the changes on the wicket. “I think the pitch actually changed quite a bit during the game. When we bowled we felt like we were trying to hit a length where the ball got a little bit more bounce than usual.
“I think the wicket was a little bit soft at the start and then as the game went on it actually started skidding on more. So I thought we adapted really well with the ball to sort of find the best length for us and then with the bat trying to look as straight as we can because the pitch did start skidding on a little bit,” he said.
After the heartbreaking loss to Pakistan, Netherlands had just one practice session in New Delhi to move on and prepare well for the Namibia clash. De Leede also said the learnings from adapting to Colombo conditions also kept them in good stead when playing in New Delhi, a city hosting a T20 game after IPL 2025.
“Obviously with limited training time because we travel so much I think we try to be really specific to what we do as a team and I know that I’m probably not as much needed up front, more towards the back and if I do well probably death as well.
“So trying to be really specific with my training it was nice that we could get a ball out in the middle and see what the pitch was doing. But we’ve got so many options in the team. So it’s just about being ready whenever the captain calls on you.
“We were obviously disappointed after Pakistan – it’s a game we felt we could have won But we try and learn from every game we play, whether it’s a loss or a win. So I think we took away some learnings there, which most of it was with the ball.
“How well we adapted in that game, getting them back from, I think they were 90 for two, to 120 for seven. So that’s a learning we took away there. And then batting-wise, trying to prolong the middle period for a bit longer, setting ourselves up for a good death, which I think we did today as well,” he elaborated.
Due to last-minute precautionary rest to Paul van Meekeren and Kyle Klein being left out as a combination change, there was more variety on offer in Netherlands bowling line-up. With eight options on offer, someone like de Leede made a big impact even when he didn’t complete his full quota of overs.
“Bowling wise I think what makes us a dangerous team is we’ve got a lot of options – not entirely sure on the thinking behind it but I think looking at how the pitch played Scott wanted to use spin at the start and then keep changing his bowlers. I think it’s you don’t want to become too predictable Especially on small boundaries like these so I think Scott did that really well,” added de Leede.
The last time de Leede played in New Delhi, he had an outing to forget. Australia’s big-hitting all-rounder Glenn Maxwell smashed the fastest century in tournament’s history and de Leede was at the receiving end by conceding 115 runs in his 10 overs that day, the most expensive spell ever recorded in the 50-over format.
This time, de Leede was at the heart of a convincing Netherlands performance, something which he will remember for a long time due to his mastery of tricky conditions on offer in front of 6139 fans in New Delhi.
“To be honest, it’s obviously a record that nobody wants, but I wasn’t too fussed about it and it wasn’t in the back of my head today. I’m pretty forgetful in terms of performances, so it’s nice to put in a good performance today,” he concluded.
–IANS
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