Bas de Leede produced a magnificent all-round display to power the Netherlands to their first T20 World Cup victory, defeating Namibia by seven wickets in Delhi. The Dutch all-rounder claimed 2-20 with the ball before smashing an unbeaten 72 to seal the chase with 12 balls to spare.

Namibia Stumbles Despite Solid Start
Put in to bat on a slow Delhi surface, Namibia managed 156-8 despite reaching 94-2 after 12 overs. Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton top-scored with 42, but the innings lost momentum through regular wickets.

De Leede struck twice at crucial moments. He removed captain Gerhard Erasmus (18 off 9) just as he was finding his rhythm, then bowled JJ Smit (22 off 15) after the big-hitter had threatened to accelerate. Logan van Beek also grabbed 2-13 as Namibia fell 20-30 runs short of a competitive total.

We kept losing wickets throughout the innings and didn’t really set ourselves up. The Dutch boys were always ten runs ahead of us.

Levitt and De Leede Dominate Chase
Michael Levitt gavethe  Netherlands a flying start, smashing 31 off 16 balls with three sixes. Though he fell in the sixth over, his blitz had already put the Dutch ahead of the required rate.

Michael Levitt, in his aggressive stance during his explosive cameo at the top of the Netherlands innings
De Leede then took charge, adding 70 runs with Colin Ackermann (32) for the third wicket. The all-rounder mixed calculated singles with powerful hitting, launching seven boundaries, including three massive sixes. His unbeaten 53-ball knock sathe w Netherlands home comfortably at 159-3 in 18 overs.

This comprehensive victory puts the Netherlands firmly back in contention for the semi-finals. With matches against India and another qualifier still to come, De Leede’s all-round brilliance has given them the perfect platform to build on.

For Namibia, playing their fourth consecutive T20 World Cup, it was a disappointing start. They’ll need to regroup quickly with tough fixtures ahead in Group A.They’ll need to regroup quickly with tough fixtures ahead in Group A.