World Cup 2023: Paul van Meekeren's destructive spell and other key moments from Netherlands' victory over Bangladesh

Despite being the higher-ranked side as well as the only Test-playing nation in the fixture, Bangladesh dished out another sorry performance to get outplayed by Netherlands at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on Saturday.

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The latest defeat — their fifth in six outings — has officially ended the Tigers’ hopes of making the maiden semi-final appearance at this year’s edition of the ICC World Cup, meaning they’ll have to play for pride along with a mid-table finish in their remaining fixtures against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia.

Netherlands, on the other hand, bounced back from the demoralising 309-run defeat at the hands of the Aussies, bossing the Tigers in all departments to further justify their place in the showpiece event.

Looking back at the events of the 28th match of the tournament, we take a look at some of the key talking points:

Tigers start off strong

Bangladesh were off to an ideal start after Netherlands opted to bat, dismissing openers Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd for scores of 3 and 0 respectively and reducing them to 4/2 inside the first three overs. Vikramjit was the first to depart, getting a thick leading edge to get caught by Shakib Al Hasan at mid off off Taskin Ahmed’s bowling while O’Dowd nicked the all to Tanzid Hasan at slip to depart for a three-ball duck. Bangladesh were off to the perfect start, and another wicket at this stage would have put them in prime position to dictate terms for the remainder of the innings.

Barresi, Edwards to the rescue

There are couple of things in common between Netherlands’ victories in the ongoing tournament, against South Africa and Bangladesh, and a captain’s knock from wicketkeeper-batter Scott Edwards is one of them. The two knocks, however, couldn’t be more contrasting — while he smashed a 69-ball 78 not out against the Proteas in Dharamsala, turning the tide with his aggressive approach, Edwards was a lot more sedate in his 89-ball 68 against the Bangladeshis on Saturday.

Most 50+ scores for Netherlands in ODIs:
15 – SCOTT EDWARDS
14 – Ryan ten Doeschate
13 – Tom Cooper
10 – Max O’Dowd
10 – Eric Szwarczynski

Scott Edwards now at the top, going past Tendo.#CWC2023 #BANvNED pic.twitter.com/l1OZokBsoy

— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) October 28, 2023

Edwards, though, came in later and it was Wesley Barresi who had begun the rebuilding work after the exit of the two openers with a run-a-ball 41, bringing the Dutchmen back on track with a 59-run third-wicket stand with Colin Ackermann (15). Edwards would later share a 78-run stand with Sybrand Engelbrecht (35) that would give them hope of posting a total in excess of 250.

Dutchmen fall short of 250

Netherlands would suffer a collapse at either ends of their innings, getting reduced to 4/2 at the start before losing their last five wickets for just 44 runs to get bundled out for 229. Edwards and Barresi’s knocks along with valuable contributions from Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek (23) gave the Dutchmen hope of going past the 250-mark that would have given them an even greater mental boost heading into the innings break.

Lead pacer Mustafizur however, would trigger the slide by grabbing the prized wicket of Edwards to break the sixth-wicket partnership with Engelbrecht, and was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 10-1-36-2. Off-spinner Mahedi Hasan struck twice, removing Engelbrecht and van Meekeren, who was the last man dismissed off the final delivery of the innings.

Mehidy attempts damage control

All-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who had struck a match-winning half-century in Bangladesh’s only victory of their campaign so far, after the Tigers too lost two wickets early in their chase. Tanzid and Litton Das had departed in successive overs with the former collecting 15 of the 19 runs scored until then. Bangladesh needed another special knock from Mehidy as well as from veterans such as skipper Shakib Al Hasan and wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim if they were to chase down 230.

Miraz patiently made his way into the 30s, showing ample restraint and indicating he was here to stay in the chase and take the game deep. At 63/3, Bangladesh had a fighting chance of collecting the second win of their campaign.

Van Meekeren seals the deal

Van Meekeren, who had been delivering Uber Eats orders to support himself in the first year of the COVID pandemic, had been putting in decent performances so far in the World Cup, getting the wickets of Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen in Netherlands’ famous victory over South Africa. On Saturday, the right-arm seamer would deliver his standout performance in ODIs — and perhaps of his international career so far — by running through the Bangladeshi batting order like a hot knife through butter.

The result — Van Meekeren walked away with his career-best figures of 4/23 that included the wickets of seniors Shakib and Mushfiqur as well as of the in-form Najmul Hossain Shanto. Bangladesh were reduced to 70/6 after Mushfiqur’s dismissal and from there on, it was about reducing the margin of victory than actually chasing the target down.