Mondays in the heart of a busy Hyderabad can get chaotic. The roads are packed, beeping cars, and bikes make their way through the busy traffic – there is a buzz that keeps you on your toes. But, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad – the New Zealand vs Netherlands fixture was anything but chaotic. It was orderly, to the extent that the match became quite mundane.
For starters, the buzz for this match was not even there. With two games on consecutive days, Pakistan and Sri Lanka had to practice at the nearby Gymkhana Cricket Ground and that is where the focus was. How will Sri Lanka bounce back after the drubbing from South Africa, and how are Pakistan, who were below-par against the Netherlands, looking to up the game against SL on Tuesday?
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The Netherlands, with due credit, had Pakistan under the pump in the opening fixture for a brief while and even with the bat they had put up a resilient fight – even though the margin of defeat was big, it was a commendable performance in the end – after all Pakistan were the No.1 ranked ODI team not long ago. But against NZ that seemed unlikely, but what’s wrong to hope otherwise, innit?
So on Monday Scott Edwards won the toss, again and opted to field first – again. Aryan Dutt, a 20-year-old offie who had an impressive outing against Pakistan started with two maidens. Ryan Klein, playing in place of an injured Logan Van Beek, also started with a maiden. After three overs, the scorecard read 0/0. Impressive from the Netherlands you would think!
Klein then over-pitched one in his next over and Will Young pounced on it, driving it back through the line and from there on, New Zealand just about went on with their business. Devon Conway, the century-maker from the England game and Young were hardly troubled by Dutt, Klein and Paul Van Meekeren; and by the tenth over the dup had picked up the run-rate 63/0.
The Netherlands sorely missed their most experienced pacer in Van Beek, and even the introduction of the wily old fox Roelof Van Der Merwe felt more of a desperate move than one made strategically. But it did pay off as Conway decided to charge down and clear the longer boundary at deep mid-wicket.
Young was joined by another centurion from the last game Rachin Ravindra, and the duo put on 77 in quick time as the Netherlands’ bowlers went through the motion without any real threat. The Monday crowd surprisingly poured in numbers for this rather nondescript matchup. 9000 plus stood the final count, surpassing the previous game, but for most who trickled in, with India jerseys. It seemed like a day out at the Cricket – it did not matter who was playing.
Similarly, New Zealand seemed to care any less. Their batters were scoring as The Netherlands players struggled to break through. When the breakthrough came, NZ strung up another good partnership. After Young’s departure on 70, Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell added 41 runs; Mitchell and Latham then added 53 runs.
Mitchell fell for 48 while Latham and Ravindra registered half-centuries.
And against the run of play, like the cool breeze that swept across the Uppal Stadium on a sweltering day, Netherlands picked a wicket in heap – 3 for 16 runs. A brief fight back and hopes were raised for the Netherlands, but Santner and Latham ensured that they finished off the innings well – Santner hitting Bas de Leede for 21 runs in the final over. NZ’s score was pushed to 322/7.
Against the likes of Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry, it was always going to be a tough proposition for The Netherlands to even come close to NZ’s target. But, as in the previous game Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd looked to be aggressive, but Boult and Henry were on the money. Vikramjit was first to go cleaned up by Matt Henry, who eventually went on to pick three wickets in total.
Colin Ackermann was the lone fighter, scoring 69 off 73, alongside Bas de Leede and Teja Nidamanuru, raised hopes of a Netherlands revival but with the asking rate creeping up and the threat of Mitchell Santner increasing with each passing delivery it was only a matter of time.
Trent Boult pulled off a stunner in the deep, a juggling effort at long-off on the boundary ropes to get de Leede out and with that, the Netherlands’ chances dwindled. Nidamanuru stuck around for 21 off 26 but an error in judgment while running between the wickets proved fatal as Nidamanuru was stuck midway while taking a second run. With Nidamanuru halfway down the pitch, Ackermann decided not to take on a Lockie Ferguson throw. Nidamanuru was run out and the Netherlands fell to 117/4.
Then Santner took over.
He had Max O’Dowd lbw with a length ball that was pushed quicker, but the key wicket came in the 33rd over when Ackermann, in a bid to be enterprising tried to reverse sweep the left-arm spinner for some runs, only to find Henry at short third man.
Against England also Santner was on the money getting enough purchase off the track and his smart variations in pace made it harder to score runs off.
“He mixes his pace pretty well; he was a massive threat I think we played him pretty well up to a point and then we gave him a couple of soft wickets towards the back end,” Ackermann summed up Santer’s spell in a nutshell.
He went on to add the wickets of skipper Scott Edwards, who did try to fight his way with a 27-ball 30 before skying one back to the bowler.
Sybrand Engelbrecht, the 35-year-old debutant, tried to make the most of his opportunity with 29 off 34, but became Santner’s fifth wicket – his second only five-wicket haul and his figures of 5/59 became the best bowling figures at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, besting none other than Mohammad Siraj’s 4/46 vs NZ earlier this year.
This win takes NZ 2-0 and very well placed heading into their third game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai – a pitch Santner knows way too well – against Bangladesh. As for the Netherlands’ end, their Hyderabad legs come to an end with many missed opportunities and travel up north to Dharamsala against another team riding high on confidence – South Africa on the 17th.
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