Scotland shrugged off their first-round woes with a thoroughly comprehensive victory over an out-of-sorts Dutch side at Westvliet on Wednesday, bowling the hosts out for 87 as they chased a challenging target of 159.
The win was set up by Scottish opener George Munsey, who survived a chance when he was on 5 and went on to hammer a 44-ball 72, including four fours and six sixes, his knock effectively the difference between the sides until the bowlers took over.
The drop was a remarkable lapse by Michael Levitt, who two balls earlier had taken an outstanding diving catch at midwicket to remove his partner Ollie Hairs off the bowling of Logan van Beek, who again turned in a fine perfomance, claiming three for 13 in his four overs.
But it was the cue for Munsey to unleash his full range of blows, taking 21 off Tim Pringle’s initial over and putting the Dutch under enormous pressure.
He dominated partnerships of 51 in 30 deliveries with Charlie Tear and 38 in 23 balls with Matthew Cross, taking the score to 111 – it was a day to remember for superstitious statisticians – before he mistimed a pull off Viv Kingma and was caught by Van Beek at deep midwicket.
He had created the platform for a monster total, but now the Dutch began a fightback, and a ‘mere’ 47 runs were added from the final 42 deliveries.
In the next over Kyle Klein, called up into the Netherlands’ World Cup squad along with Saqib Zulfiqar after injuries to Fred Klaassen and Daniel Doram, grabbed a first T20I wicket by bowling Michael Leask, and then Pringle had Cross well caught by Vikram Singh at long off.
Chris Greaves soon followed, caught by Sybrand Engelbrecht off Bas de Leede’s bowling as the Scots tried to maintain the scoring rate, and it was left to Mark Watt and Chris Sole to get the total up to a still-demanding 157 for eight.
The Dutch needed a good start, but inside three overs they were 19 for three, with Singh, Levitt and Engelbrecht all back in the tent.
Singh may have been a tad unfortunate to be given leg-before in Leask’s initial over, but there was no doubt at all about the gentle return catch Levitt provided to Sole, or the fine delivery with which Brad Currie bowled Engelbrecht.
The reply was in tatters, and although De Leede again unleashed a couple of splendid strokes, his square drive off Sole among the finest of the week, the Scots never let up.
De Leede and Edwards contrived to add 42 for the fourth wicket, but once they had gone, for 27 and 29 respectively, resistance came to an end, the last six wickets adding just 26 runs and falling in the space of five overs.
It was Watt who finished it off with three wickets in four balls, the tail capitulating altogether and leaving Van Beek the last man standing, the only one of the last six to reach double figures.
It had been an utter rout, Watt’s four for 12 almost matched by Currie’s two for 12 and Greaves’s two for 13, and the home side will need to do some serious thinking before they take on Ireland on Friday in the final match of the series.
Scotland, though, can be very pleased indeed with the way they came back from their opening day defeat.
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