Sylhet: The Netherlands dished out a brutal exhibition of power hitting to pull off a stunning six-wicket win over Ireland and qualify for the Super 10 stage of the ICC World T20, here on Friday.
Leading the charge was top-scorer and Man-of-the-Match, Stephan Myburgh, who smashed 63 off a mere 23 balls to set the stage on fire at the Sylhet Stadium. Wesley Barresi remained unbeaten on 40 of a brisk 22-ball after Tom Cooper hammered his way to 45 off just 15 balls in the final qualifying Group B match.
Chasing a stiff target of 190 in 14.2 overs to qualify for the next stage, the Netherlands completed the task in 13.5 overs, with the winning team hitting a staggering world record 19 sixes.
This is also the highest score by any team after 13.5 overs, the previous-highest being 175 by South Africa versus England in Centurion in 2009.
During the course of his blazing knock, Myburgh raced to his fifty off just 17 balls, the third fastest in T20 Internationals.
Sent into bat, Ireland batted aggressively to post a daunting 189 for four in the stipulated 20 overs.
Andrew Poynter top-scored with a 38-ball 57, skipper William Porterfield made 47 off 32 balls before Kevin O’Brien struck a hurricane 42 off just 16 balls to almost take the game away from the Netherlands.
By winning the match, the Dutch broke the hearts of Zimbabwe, who were left on the sidelines watching the fate of the match with keen interest.
The African team had earlier beaten the UAE by five wickets. (PTI)