Ben Cooper’s 41 from 33 balls, Ryan ten Doeschate’s unbeaten 34, and Brandon Glover’s 3/24 in the first innings nudged Netherlands to win by seven wickets in the final of the T20 World Cup Qualifiers.
Netherlands eased past Papua New Guinea (PNG) in their seven-wicket win in the final of the T20 World Cup Qualifiers at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Saturday. Brandon Glover’s ferocity with the ball, and Ben Cooper and Ryan ten Doeschate’s technique with the bat nudged the Dutch to claim the title.
Both Netherlands and Papua New Guinea had qualified for next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, along with Oman, Scotland, Namibia, and Ireland with Saturday’s clash just being played for classification purposes.
After Papua New Guinea won the toss and chose to bat, they struggled against the Dutch bowling attack, losing three wickets inside the powerplay overs. Lega Siaka top-scored for them with 39 off 41 balls, while Jason Kila’s 29-run scorcher off just 11 balls powered the Oceanian side to a meagre 128/8 at the end of 20 overs.
In the runchase, Ben Cooper’s 41 from 33 balls, and Ryan ten Doeschate’s unbeaten 34 sealed up the deal for Netherlands, providing enough competition to right-arm pacer, “Man of the Match”, Brandon Glover’s 3/24 for the performance of the day. The Dutch reached their target with six balls to spare, finishing the innings on 134/3.
“Deservingly, we are holding the trophy all by ourselves after sharing it with Scotland and Ireland previously. We just make sure in a year’s time, we need to be very well prepared. With the team we have got, we should be well placed,” said Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar after the match.
Namibia’s captain Gerhard Erasmus won the Man of the Series, after scoring 268 runs in the tournament and playing a key role in helping his side qualify for next year’s World Cup.
Earlier, Ireland defeated Namibia by 27 runs in the third-place play-off.
