Canada inflicted a first defeat on hi-flying Netherlands in the T20I tri series at Utrecht, first producing an excellent rearguard effort with the bat before astutely defending a score of 132 to win by eight runs.
Canada, who were asked to bat first, were reduced to 35/6 in the ninth over as Kyle Klein and Paul van Meekeren scythed through their line-up. It was then that Shreyas Movva and Saad Bin Zafar got together to stitch a 66-run stand for the seventh wicket, each batter scoring an identical 33. While Movva struck three fours and a six in his 26-ball stay, Bin Zafar batted through the innings, adding vital runs with the tail to take the total to 132.
In response, Netherlands looked in control at 44/1 midway through the seventh over when Vikramjit Singh was run-out for 22. Two balls later Michael Levitt was cleaned up by Parveen Kumar (2 for 10) and a further four balls later captain Scott Edwards was dismissed for a duck with the score not moving past 44.
Zach Lion Cachet and Noah Croes made slow progress in a fifth-wicket stand of 21 before Cachet fell to Parveen. Ryan Klein and Croes added another 37 runs but by then Netherlands were left having to chase 30 from the final two overs after going through a 70-ball phase without a boundary. They managed only 22 from the final two and tasted defeat for the first time in the series.
Brief scores: Canada 132/9 in 20 overs (Shreyas Movva 33, Saad Bin Zafar 33*; Kyle Klein 3-22, Paul van Meekeren 3-29) beat Netherlands 124/8 in 20 overs (Noah Croes 32; Parveen Kumar 2-10, Kaleem Sana 2-23) by 8 runs.
Opener Michael Levitt (68 off 34) and captain Scott Edwards (81* off 40) flattened USA with scintillating half centuries, catapulting the Dutch to 217 to virtually shut the door on USA before the second half of the game. A spineless USA batting unit threw in the white towel quite early on in the chase as they eventually endured a 102-run hammering after. Apart from a brief resistive stand of 47 runs between Aaron Jones and Shayan Jahangir, the USA batters chose to give little trouble to the scorers as they capitulated before the end of the 16th over.
Levitt fired the opening salvo for the Netherlands to make it a 16-run opening over off Juanoy Drysdale. Max O’ Dowd sprung into action in the third over with a troika of boundaries against Jasdeep Singh, who conceded 19 including 5 wides. After being carted for a six by Levitt in his first over, USA brought back Nosthush Kenjige who wernt for 17 in his next over. The Netherlands raced to 76 off 5 overs before Shadley Van Schalkwyk’s twin strikes in the form of a red hot O’Dowd and Vikramjit Singh had USA heaving a sigh of relief.
Levitt brought up his second half century in a row while Edwards summoned his staple shot, the sweep, for regular boundaries. Levitt remained on the loose after his half century but Harmeet Singh cut short a burgeoning innings after having him holed out at long on. The left arm spinner came out unscathed from a tormenting Dutch innings, with a nagging spell of 1 for 19 in his 4 overs. Edwards then exhibited an enviable range in his hitting as he reached his first T20I half century, off 27 balls. The milestone spurred him on as he looted 31 in his next 13 deliveries, including an enterprising reverse scoop off Jasdeep, as the Netherlands stacked up 53 in the final 5 overs.
USA captain Monank Patel was off the blocks early in the chase with three boundaries in 10 deliveries but Aryan Dutt proved to be his nemesis yet again as he miscued one to deep mid wicket in the second over. Kyle Klein started where he left off after his four wicket haul against USA earlier in the week as he pinned Andries Gous in front. Nitish Kumar deposited Klein with authority over long on but miscued one to mid on a couple of balls later as. USA top order’s cheap exit left them in a muddle at 33 for 3 in the 5th over with a mountain to climb.
Jones was on the charge despite his team being on the brink. After slog sweeping Dutt to the mid wicket fence, he continued to pepper the cow corner by thumping Paul Van Meekeren for back to back sixes in the 7th over. Shayan Jahangir got himself off to a flying start as he thrashed Daniel Doram for a couple of boundaries. The pair put on a brisk 47-run stand before Vikramjit sent Jones packing.
Jones’ departure triggered a disproportionate collapse for a thin looking USA batting unit. USA’s lack of batting depth was quite evident after bowling all rounder Shadley Van Schalkwyk was slotted in at number 6. He failed to create an impact at his new spot as he vanished for a golden duck after miscuing one off Van Meekeren. Harmeet Singh, who’s made a reputation for himself of digging USA out of the whole in his short international career perished in search of boundaries and so did Jahangir as the steam came off the USA chase sensationally, losing 7 wickets in 32 deliveries.
Brief scores: Netherlands 217/5 in 20 overs (Scott Edwards 81*, Michael Levitt 68; Shadley van Schalkwyk 3-35) beat USA 115 in 15.4 overs (Shayan Jahangir 37, Aaron Jones 34; Vikramjit Singh 3-16) by 102 runs.
Rain forced the second match of the tri-series to be called off with only one innings completed. Opting to bat, Canada posted a competitive score of 169/5. Aaron Johnson top-scored with 45 while Nicholas Kirton struck 44 to extend his good form in the series. But it began to rain after that and and persisted, forcing the teams to share points.
Brief scores: Canada 169/5 in 20 overs (Aaron Johnson 45, Nicholas Kirton 44; Jasdeep Singh 2-31) vs USA. No Result.
Half-centuries from Michael Levitt and Vikramjit Singh eased the Netherlands over the line in the opening game of the tri-series against Canada. Nicholas Kirton’s 69 not out off 58 and Ravinderpal Singh’s 18-ball 39 not out helped Canada post 152/5 after they opted to bat. But the total wasn’t enough as Levitt’s unbeaten 62 off 47 and Vikramjit’s blistering 21-ball 52 helped the Netherlands reach the target in 16.1 overs.
Canada did not have the best of starts as Kyle Klein picked up three wickets inside the powerplay to prevent the opposition from gaining early momentum. It became 58/4 after nine overs, and later 80/5 in the 14th, with Kirton batting well but not receiving much support from the other end. Ravinderpal finally provided the power to the innings with four sixes and a four. Two of Ravinderpal’s sixes came in the final over off Klein Klien while Kirton also hit a couple of fours as Canada managed 21 to finish with 150-plus.
After a quiet start to the chase, Max O’Dowd and Levitt got the Netherlands going with boundaries and sixes as they reached 49/0 after six overs. Harsh Thaker ended O’Dowd’s stay but a quick-fire 78-run stand between Levitt and Vikramjit ensued, keeping the Netherlands on track. Levitt got to fifty in 36 balls while Vikramjit took only 20 balls to get there, striking 5 fours and 4 sixes in his innings before getting out to Thaker. The Netherlands had a minor hiccup as they lost a few more wickets before getting to the target in the 17th over.
