Netherlands welcomed New Zealand to play a two-match T20 series. Last night, the series started at the Sportpark Westvliet, where New Zealand defeated the home team by 16 runs. Today, they will play the final match of this series. New Zealand just need to win this game to seal the series.
Match Report
Mitchell Santner was named the T20 captain of New Zealand. Last night, he won the toss and decided to bat first against the Netherlands. So, Martin Guptill and Finn Allen came onto the pitch to start the innings for the Black Caps. But they had a slow start. Both batters faced each ball very carefully. Despite being defensive, the two openers couldn’t make a long partnership. New Zealand lost their first wicket in the 3rd over as Finn Allen departed the pitch scoring 8 runs.
After that, Martin Guptill tried to make a partnership with the new batter, Dane Cleaver. But Dane Cleaver couldn’t stay long on the pitch. He lost his wicket in the 6th over. Then, Guptill made another partnership of 29 runs with Daryl Mitchell. They looked good on the pitch, but Shariz Ahmed didn’t let them make a big partnership. Mitchell lost his wicket after scoring only 15 runs. After a while, Martin Guptill also departed the pitch, scoring the highest 45 runs for New Zealand. James Neesham added another 32 runs at the lower order. Relying on their runs, New Zealand scored 148 runs in 20 overs.
Defending the small score, New Zealand had a flying start. They took the first wicket in the 2nd over. Moreover, Blair Tickner hit two wickets in the 3rd over. As a result, the Netherlands lost three wickets in four overs. After that, Bas de Leede and Scott Edwards tried to tackle the initial disaster. They added 49 runs together on the scoreboard. But their partnership broke when Mitchell Santner picked up Scott Edwards.
However, Bas de Leede scored the highest 66 runs for the Netherlands before losing the wicket. But the remaining batters of the home team couldn’t score enough, and the Netherlands became all out in 132 runs. As a result, New Zealand won the first T20 match by 16 runs.
