Bulawayo, July 6: Bas de Leede took a five-wicket haul and then struck his first century in a magnificent all-round performance for a long time to come as Netherlands became the tenth and last team to book their spot in the 2023 ODI World Cup after beating Scotland by four wickets in an all-important Super Six match of the Qualifiers at Queens Sports Club, here on Thursday.
After taking 5/52 to keep Scotland to 277/9, De Leede overshadowed Brandon McMullen’s 106 by hitting 123 off 92 balls, laced with seven fours and five sixes at a strike-rate of 133.7, also his first ODI century.
His efforts, along with Vikramjit Singh’s 40 and Saqib Zulfiqar’s 33 not out propelled the Netherlands to hunt down 278 in 42.5 overs and book their ticket for the ODI World Cup in India, to be held from October 5 to November 19.
De Leede also became only the fourth player to score a century and take a five-wicket haul in the same men’s ODI as Netherlands will be back in a 50-over World Cup for the first time since 2011.
Overtaking Scotland on net run rate in a stunning run-chase at Bulawayo has also ensured Netherlands’ will make their fifth ODI World Cup appearance, later this year in India.
Netherlands will now play the final of Qualifiers against Sri Lanka on Sunday.
“Little bit lost for words. I thought what Bas de Leede and Saqib Zulfiqar did in the last 10 overs was unbelievable to watch,” an emotional Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards said after the match. (Agencies)
