The chasm between the World 50-over champions and the Netherlands’ team of hard-working but inexperienced part-timers was once again visible at the VRA Ground in Amstelveen on Sunday, as England cruised to a comfortable six-wicket victory in the second match of their Super League series, but a late rally by the hosts made their visitors work harder for their victory than had seemed likely for the majority of the game.
After overnight rain left a soggy area directly adjacent to the pitch, the start was delayed by two and a quarter hours, and it was revealed that Dutch captain Pieter Seelaar would not be playing due to a recurring back problem; later in the day, he announced his retirement from international cricket ending a long and distinguished career.
In Seelaar’s absence, left-arm spinner Tim Pringle earned his first international cap, while Viv Kingma and Teja Nidamanuru replaced Philippe Boissevain and Musa Ahmad, respectively. The single change for England was the replacement of Sam Curran with Brydon Carse.
Because of the late start, the game was reduced to 41 overs, and Edwards chose to bat when Eoin Morgan’s call was incorrect.
Vikramjit Singh was caught at square leg by Carse as he pulled unconvincingly at a David Willey bouncer; when Adil Rashid came on immediately after the eight-over powerplay, Max O’Dowd was brilliantly caught, also at square leg, by Dawid Malan as he swept the leg-spinner; and then Tom Cooper, pushed up to three, was leg-before in the next over, to Carse’s second delivery.
With the score at 36 for three, Edwards was called in to assist Bas de Leede, who was having some difficulties with his team.
By the time the new skipper had reached number five, he had already survived two DRS challenges, the first for LBW off Rashid when the ball-tracker overruled the on-field umpire, and the second for a leg-side catch by the keeper in Rashid’s next over, where it was confirmed that Edwards had not made contact with the ball.
But he and De Leede went on to add 61 for the fourth wicket at almost a run a ball, and after De Leede, on 34, was bowled by Liam Livingstone’s lofted drive and holed out to Willey at mid-on, Edwards and Nidamanuru added 73 for the fifth wicket.
Despite the loss of Nidamanuru, who was bowled for 28 by Willey, Edwards had reached his second consecutive fifty and seventh in 19 ODI innings, this time off 55 deliveries, and he seemed set on driving his side to a defendable total.
His innings came to an end, though, as he pushed for a second run and was just beaten by a great throw from Willey at square leg; his 78 came off 73 deliveries and contained four fours and three sixes, the last of which was a superb reverse scoop off Willey as the final powerplay began.
Despite the loss of Nidamanuru, who was bowled for 28 by Willey, Edwards had reached his second consecutive fifty and seventh in 19 ODI innings, this time off 55 deliveries, and he seemed set on driving his side to a defendable total.
His innings came to an end, though, as he pushed for a second run and was just beaten by a great throw from Willey at square leg; his 78 came off 73 deliveries and contained four fours and three sixes, the last of which was a superb reverse scoop off Willey as the final powerplay began.
To his credit, Van Beek managed to restrict Roy and Salt’s pace for a while, but without overworking themselves, the England openers were churning out half-centuries at over seven an over, with Roy needing 44 deliveries and Salt only 37.
The total had reached 122 when Roy slashed at the final ball of an over that had already produced four boundaries, sliced it to Snater at short third man, and was dismissed for 73.
Dutt had another six overs later, when Salt came down the wicket at the off-spinner and was bowled for 77, bringing England’s total to 168 for two.
Morgan joined Malan, but despite a somewhat longer innings than Friday’s, it was the effort of a player out of form, and it was another swing across the line that saw him top-edge Cooper to Snater at point and exit without scoring.
Pringle, who had bowled six overs prior to Cooper’s arrival, returned quickly to dismiss the dangerous Livingstone for 4, and three wickets had fallen for nine runs in the space of 19 deliveries, leaving the English reply at 177 for four.
The error may have been more than fleeting if an LBW decision against Malan in Dutt’s next over had been upheld, but for the second time in as many innings, the batter gained the benefit of the DRS algorithm and survived.
Dutt was looking a different proposition after allowing 30 in his first two overs, and with Cooper bowling well at the other end, Malan and Moeen Ali were obliged to go slowly towards their objective.
They did, however, have plenty of overs in hand, and when Ali finally went after Cooper, striking him twice through mid-on for four and then over extra cover for another, only 23 runs from the final nine overs were required.
Ali’s six and four to close the 35th over tied the score, but Van Beek bowled a superb but ultimately ineffective maiden to Malan, and it was left to Ali to hit the winning boundary off the first ball of Snater’s next over.
Ali concluded with 42 from 40 deliveries and Malan with 36 from 50, while Van Beek had none for 26 from six overs and Dutt had two for 55 from nine, with just 25 coming in his final seven.
The Dutch had fought valiantly against overwhelming odds once more, and while the result was never in doubt, it was far less of a thrashing than Friday’s disaster: The conclusion of the story is that the Netherlands, like the other leading Associates, should not be underestimated. need to play more ODIs rather than fewer against the Full Members.