Tigresses Tame Lionesses on Debut

The Netherlands played their debut T20 World Cup match at Old Trafford against the Bangladesh Tigresses, and while they were impressive, they ultimately lost the match by 6 wickets.

This match drew an early crowd, not to watch these two teams, early to get a good seat for the main event later in the day, India v Pakistan. What the crowd witnessed however was a bit of history with a team on debut and all the while a very good display of cricket skills in what turned out to be a great cricket match.

Babette de Leede won the toss for the Netherlands and chose to bat first. The openers gave a good account of themselves, a lovely blend of youth and experience, the veteran Heather Siegers and the newcomer, Phebe Molkenboer. Both began the Powerplay in good fashion. Indeed Molkenboer scored two glorious successive boundaries from the bowling of Marufa Akter (2-31) before the bowler had the last laugh, a beautiful delivery, just short of a length, nipping away but catching the edge of the bat.

That dismissal brought the skipper to the crease and while ever she was there, the Netherlands were in for a show. She fell in the end for an 50 runs, having guided the team through most of the innings. It was a classic captain’s knock and the first half century scored by a Netherlands player at a World Cup.

The final couple of overs gave heart to the Netherlands’ hopeful. Iris Zwilling and Silver Siegers put in some deft shots and clever running to get the score to a respectable 139/8. Marufa Akter, while leaking runs at times, was the pick of the bowlers. She will have a good tournament, no doubt.

Juairiya Ferdous (50) was in a no mood play the anchor role. The Bangladesh opener was busy from the get go and during her innings, which paved the way for victory, was a delightful collection of pull shots, two of which cleared the boundary. For such a slight figure, she sure gives the ball a wallop, and was deservedly given the Player of the Match award.

The Netherlands seamers were a little short at times and it was actually the spin combo of Caroline de Lange (2-27) and Silver Siegers (1-24) who were the most productive.

The Tigresses indeed tamed the Lionesses, by six wickets to be precise, to their campaign off to a good start. The Netherlands? A top debut and they are sure to put up a good fight in further games.

Scores:

Netherlands 139/8 (Babette de Leede 50, Heather Siegers 16, Marufa Akter 2-31 ) lost to
Bangladesh 141/4  (Juairiya Ferdous 50, Sharmin Akter 37*,  Caroline de Lange 2-27) by 6 wickets

POTM: Juairiya Ferdous