United Arab Emirates had a contrasting performance in the two halves of their T20 World Cup opener on Sunday against the Netherlands, who would have been relieved to have eventually come out on top despite an unconvincing outing during the run-chase.
The Dutch dominated two-thirds of the game but their much-vaunted batters lost ground at an ICC event once again and nearly conceded a defeat that would have pained them for years if it had come to fruition for the men from the Middle East.
Chasing a paltry target of 112 in 20 overs, Netherlands made a decent feast of the powerplay field-restriction phase, reaching a position of strength at 2 for 42 at the end of the first six overs. But they soon started wilting under the pressure of some disciplined UAE bowling on a tricky surface at the Simonds Stadium in Geelong.
In a three-over phase that robbed them of all momentum and began their slippery rope, Netherlands mustered only seven runs and gave UAE a backdoor entry into the contest, which fuelled the opposition belief to make a match out of it.
To be blamed for the scenario were their top 4 men, who all got starts but failed to kick on and play a substantial knock. Max O’Dowd mustered 23 off 18 but couldn’t press on to get a big score. As did the trio of Vikramjit Singh (10), Bas de Leede (14) and Colin Ackermann (17), getting in, playing out a critical number of balls but then getting out without bailing the Dutch out of the trouble.
That meant pressure on the rest of the cast to keep the run-chase on even as UAE piled on their difficulty. In the nick of time, skipper Scott Edwards (16) and Tim Pringle (15*) came out and played measured knocks to ensure their team kept the nose ahead of the water and sneak through to an important win in the final over with three wickets intact.
At the beginning of their chase, it felt as if Netherlands were eyeing a major NRR boost considering the way Group A is shaping up after Namibia’s shocking win over Sri Lanka. But UAE’s spirited bowling effort forced them to pull the gear back, cutting down risks and looking to preserve their wickets.
Leading the bowling pack for UAE was their dependable seamer Junaid Siddique, who ran through the opposition middle-order with a fantastic spell of 3 for 24 off his 4 overs. His excellent performance was backed up superbly by restrictive spells from Karthik Meiyappan (1/22) and Zahoor Khan (1/11).
UAE would rue missing out on 15-20 runs after an insipid batting performance, where only opener Muhammad Waseem (41) managed to withstand the quality of the Netherlands bowling. De Leede was their star bowling performer with 3 for 19 off his 3 overs, which was ably backed up by Fred Klaassen (2/13).
No less brilliant with the ball was (1/13), whose incisive left-arm spin is what first triggered the UAE downfall. The tweaker could be a key feature of his team’s bowling plans heading deeper into the tournament.
Having collected two points over UAE, Netherlands next face Namibia in a match that could decide the first Super 12 qualifying side from Group B on Tuesday (October 18). On the same day, UAE and Sri Lanka will play out a knock-out fixture to keep their campaign alive at Geelong.
Brief scores
UAE 111/8 in 20 overs (Waseem 41; De Leede 3/19, Klaassen 2/13) lost to Netherlands 112/7 in 19.5 overs (O’ Dowd 23; Siddique 3/24, Zahoor 1/11) by 3 wickets
