By Spy Uganda
Netherlands continued their campaign on the third day of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier B as they defeated Uganda by 97 runs on Thursday.
The decision to ask Netherlands to bat first backfired on Uganda as the Dutch put up a big total, largely due to fantastic knocks from Max O’Dowd and Tom Cooper.
Both batters have been in terrific form of late and shone in their previous game too. Despite losing Stephan Myburgh early for a duck in the third over, Netherlands quickly recovered.
Shaking off the slow start, O’Dowd switched to aggressive mode to clobber 57-ball 73. After Bas de Leede’s wicket in the seventh over, O’Dowd paired with Cooper to share a 121-run third-wicket stand. Cooper was unbeaten on a fiery 42-ball 81 as Netherlands posted 187/3.
With a mammoth target of 188 to scale and a place in the semi-final on the line, Uganda had a tough task in front of them. A sensational spell from Fred Klaassen all but put their dreams to rest. He removed Roger Mukasa and Ronak Patel on the first two balls of Uganda’s innings. At 0/2, Uganda found themselves in dire straits and further stuttered when Klaassen took two wickets again in the third over.
He completed a five-wicket haul in the fifth over when he dismissed Uganda captain Kenneth Waiswa. The Uganda middle and lower order fought briefly but they were only delaying the inevitable as wickets fell at regular intervals. They could only manage to score 90/9 in their 20 overs, suffering a defeat by 97 runs.
