(Reuters) – The Netherlands climbed off the bottom of the World Cup table with an 87-run win over Bangladesh on Saturday after Scott Edwards hit a feisty half-century and Dutch bowler Paul van Meekeren ripped through the Asian side in a fiery spell.
Chasing 230 to win, Bangladesh collapsed to 70-6 inside 18 overs with Van Meekeren (4-23) mowing down the middle order and Bas de Leede dismissing set batsman Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 35, before the team eventually folded for 142 in 42.2 overs.
The Dutch seamers varied their pace and extracted bounce from a slow wicket at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens to turn up the heat on Bangladesh, with De Leede (2-25) getting rid of Mohammad Mahmudullah (20) to put them firmly on course for a famous win.
Scott Edwards rode his luck earlier to score a stroke-filled 68 that resuscitated the innings after a shaky start, and Sybrand Engelbrecht chipped in with 35 as the Netherlands finished with 229 thanks to late hitting by Logan van Beek (23 not out).
Shoriful Islam (2-51) and Mahedi Hasan (2-40) cleaned up the tail, but Bangladesh were left to rue the fact that they allowed the Netherlands lower order to accumulate 74 runs in the final 10 overs that gave them a respectable total.
Netherlands had lost both their openers in the first 14 balls after Edwards won the toss and chose to bat, but Wesley Barresi repaired the damage with a breezy 41 that included eight fours before Mustafizur Rahman (2-36) enticed him into a poor shot.
Colin Ackermann (15) did not last much longer and the Dutch would have been in deeper trouble but for some sloppy catching by Bangladesh as Edwards was dropped twice while on zero in the 16th over.
Taskin Ahmed (2-43) then had De Leede caught behind for 17 to leave Netherlands teetering at 107-5, but Edwards soldiered on with Engelbrecht to score his second fifty of the tournament and 15th overall before Mustafizur snared him with a wide yorker.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
