Bas Bats for Associate Nations

Ahmedabad: The Netherlands did put up a brief fight in their last Group match of the World Cup on Wednesday before bowing out of the T20 showpiece. Top order batsman Bas de Leede admitted containing a swinging Shivam Dube was a tough task.

“It was difficult. A guy like that, who hits balls with so much ease, is hard to stop. I think we stopped him in patches but probably not enough for us to keep them to a total that was chaseable,” de Leede said after the match.

The Dutchman said their plan to employ spin early on was a result of India’s show against Pakistan in the previous match. “We looked at the Pakistan game and saw that they had struggled with spin, so we focussed on bowling spin in the Powerplay to limit their scoring options,” he said.

The Oranje were understandably overwhelmed by the atmosphere, having played in front of a crowd numbering 68,510 at the Narendra Modi Stadium. “It was amazing. I think all the guys enjoyed it. It’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play for so many people. I hope everyone soaked it all in,” de Leede said.

In the same breath, he pitched for more matches for teams from associate nations against the big sides. “Moving forward, I think the associates have shown at what level associate cricket is at the moment. We can only ask for more and more opportunities against the best because that’s ultimately the way that we’re going to improve as a collective,” de Leede said.

He agreed it was not easy. “Obviously the schedules at the moment are pretty crammed already with franchise leagues and the future tours program of the ICC, so I think it’s hard to schedule a full series against top nations. However, I think one potential option could be when travelling teams come to England for example, there’s a choice of playing a warm-up in Scotland or one in the Netherlands. I think there are ways around that where we still can get exposure by playing against the best teams and they get something out of it as well,” de Leede said.