Cricket World Cup: Pakistan beat Netherlands by 81 runs despite top order hiccup

Pakistan's Haris Rauf celebrates the wicket of Netherlands' captain Scott Edwards. Photo / AP

Pakistan overcame a top-order batting hiccup with sharp pace bowling to beat the Netherlands by 81 runs Friday at the Cricket World Cup.

All-rounder Bas de Leede picked up 4-62 with his seam bowling to bowl out Pakistan for 286 with an over to spare – a total which captain Scott Edwards thought was a par total after he won the toss and elected to chase on a dry wicket.

De Leede then kept the Netherlands in the chase with a knock of 67 off 68 balls before Pakistan struck through express fast bowler Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi to bowl out Dutchmen for 205 in 41 overs.

Rauf picked up 3-43, Afridi claimed 1-37 and Hasan Ali bagging 2-37 in his first ODI in more than a year after being recalled for the World Cup when Naseem Shah was ruled out with a shoulder injury.

“Credit to the bowlers, we started well and took wickets in the middle (overs),” Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said. “We lost three wickets while batting, (but) the way Rizwan and Shakeel batted, they took it away.”

Vikramjit Singh made a fighting 52 off 67 balls and combined in a 70-run stand with de Leede as both kept challenging the Pakistan spinners in the middle overs.

Legspinner Shadab Khan (1-45), who has had a slump in his bowling form since the Asia Cup, struggled to find his lengths early but broke through when Singh holed out in the deep while going for an unnecessary big shot against the leggy’s short ball.

Rauf then took the sting out of the Netherlands’ chase, claiming the wickets of Teja Nidamanuru and Edwards in the space of three balls. Rauf should have had three wickets off four balls, but Iftikhar Ahmed dropped a regulation catch of Saqib Zulfiqar at the lone slip.

With de Leede running out of partners, the allrounder tried to guide leftarm spinner Mohammad Nawaz and had his off stump knocked back before Logan van Beek made an unbeaten run-a-ball 28 to narrow the margin of defeat.

The Netherlands, which qualified for the World Cup with a dramatic Super Over win over the West Indies, showed little rustiness from their victory three months ago and put Pakistan in trouble at 38-3 inside the batting powerplay.

Out-of-form Fakhar Zaman offered a tame return catch to van Beek and world’s top-ranked ODI batter Babar had an unusual struggle for 18 balls in scoring 5 runs before pulling offspinner Colin Ackermann to short midwicket. Imam-ul-Haq was caught at fine leg when he pulled Paul van Meekeren as the Netherlands kept coming at Pakistan’s top-order batters inside the first 10 overs.

But Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan, both playing in their first World Cup, scripted Pakistan’s revival with a 120-run partnership as Edwards kept rotating his bowlers without success.

Shakeel used his feet well against the spinners in a composed innings of 68 off 52 balls that featured nine fours and a six. Rizwan made 68 off 75 balls.

“Tried to follow my basics and be positive to score for my team,” Shakeel said after being named Man of the Match in his first World Cup game. “Nerves were there as we’d lost three wickets, (but) I was lucky to get early boundaries. We discussed that the pressure would transfer if we scored, which did happen.”

Both batters departed in the space of four overs with Shakeel top-edging a sweep against Aryan Dutt and Rizwan clean bowled by de Leede.

Nawaz (39) and Shadab (32) played little cameos to lift the total while tailenders Afridi and Rauf also added 19 runs for the last wicket before Ackermann wrapped up Pakistan’s innings.

“It’s a bit disappointing,” Edwards said. “Firstly, we bowled and fielded well. We thought they were par. … De Leede’s innings was awesome, just needed someone to be with him.”