Netherlands beat Zimbabwe by 5 wickets at T20 World Cup

Fast bowler Paul van Meekeren took three wickets to lead the Netherlands to a five-wicket win over Zimbabwe on Wednesday, ending the African side’s chances of making the semifinals at the Twenty20 World Cup.

It was the Dutch side’s first win in the Super 12 tournament after three losses.

Van Meekeren (3-29) and his pace partners Brandon Glover (2-29) and Bas de Leede (2-13) were influential in curtailing the Zimbabweans, who were dismissed in 19.2 overs for 117 after winning the toss and deciding to bat.

But Zimbabwe lost 3-20 in six overs as van Meekeren and Glover made early inroads.

Sikandar Raza, who top-scored with an aggressive 40 from 24 balls, and Sean Williams (28 from 23) steadied with an innings-high 48-run partnership. But the pair were the only Zimbabweans to reach double figures.

After Williams’ dismissal, another clump of wickets soon fell as Zimbabwe lost its last seven wickets for 49 runs.

In reply, the Netherlands scored 120-5 with 12 balls remaining. Max O’Dowd top-scored with 52 runs.

“I was quite scrappy at the start,” O’Dowd said. “It was important to adapt to the wicket. I took time . . .but eventually adapted well to bat as long as I could.”

Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine said, “it was one of those tosses where we were split, whether to bowl or bat.”

“Credit to the Netherlands for their power-play bowling to put us under the pump. Raza and Williams did really well to get us back into the game but unfortunately, we couldn’t finish it off,” Ervine added. “With the ball, we didn’t find enough movement.”

Netherlands captain Scott Edwards said it was important for his side to win a Super 12 match after qualifying from the preliminary tournament.

“We came here to win some games at the Super 12,” Edwards said, “Good to get the ball rolling after a rocking start.”

India and Bangladesh, each with four points from two wins in three matches, played the later match in Adelaide. Bangladesh won the toss and chose to field, with each team making one change.

First-place South Africa plays fifth-place Pakistan on Thursday at the Sydney Cricket Ground. South Africa has two wins and a no result for five points in Group 2 and Pakistan has a win and two losses for two competition points.