Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards said that he wasn't expecting the Dallas to be tricker in the T20 World Cup 2024 Group D match against Nepal at the Grand Prairie Stadium on Tuesday, June 4.
The Netherlands kicked off their campaign with a six-wicket win over Nepal. With a target of 106, the Dutch side chased it down in 18.4 overs. Max ODowd led the Netherlands batting as he played an unbeaten innings of 54 off 48 balls. Vikramjit Singh contributed with an innings of 22 off 28 balls in Dutch's run-chase.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Scott Edwards said that his team got an idea how New York would behave. He also lauded his bowlers, especially Tim Pringle and Logan van Beek for their brilliant bowling to bundle out Nepal for a mere 107.
"Obviously we got a bit of a read of the wicket (good toss to win?). Our bowlers did well in the powerplay. Pringle and van Beek boys been brilliant for us over a few years now." Edwards said.
After being to bowl first, Netherlands challenged Nepal with their brilliant, restricting opposition's scoring opportunities early in the innings. Tim Pringle and Logan van Beek ulitized the tricky pitch to their advantage. Pringle and van Beek combined picked six wickets. Paul van Meekeren and Bas de Leede too contributed to Netherlands bowling by taking 2 scalps each.
Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel performed well for his team as he scored 35 off 37 balls, while other batters failed to score 20 runs.
'Was a trickier wicket than we were expecting': Edwards
Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards stated that his team could've chased down 107-run target much earlier hadn't the pitch was trickier than they were expecting. He added that his team believe in consistency and carry it on in the upcoming matches.
"Ideally we would've liked to get there a bit quicker (talking about the chase). Was a trickier wicket than we were expecting." Edwards said.
"For us, it's the consistency. To go well in these tournaments you have to play consistent cricket." he added.
The Netherlands took almost 20 overs to chase down 107-run target set by Nepal in their opening match of the tournament. In the powerplay, the Dutch side posted a total of 36/1.
Netherlands will play their second match of their T20 World Cup campaign against South Africa on June 8 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.