The Netherlands have booked their spot for the next ICC Men’s T20 World Cup after qualifying for the semifinals of 2019 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier.
On Tuesday (29th October), the hosts UAE met the Netherlands in the Qualifier 1 at Dubai (DSC). The Dutch thrashed the hosts in that game and have qualified for the last four stages of this Qualifier tournament.
After winning the toss, the UAE decided to bat first but faced huge trouble at the early stage of that game. Before the first five overs, the UAE were struggling on 9/5.
Apart from captain Ahmed Raza (22), no one reached the 20-run mark in that innings. The hosts never came out from that initial collapse as they were restricted to 80/9 (20 overs).
The 22-year-old Netherlands right-arm pacer Brandon Glover was the best bowler in that game. He had the bowling figures of 4-0-12-4. Also, Paul van Meekeren (2/13) and Timm van der Gugten (2/10) picked up two wickets each in that innings.
The Netherlands chased the 81 runs target in 15.1 overs after losing two wickets
In reply, the Netherlands batted calmly and chased down that tiny target very easily in 15.1 overs after losing only two wickets. Opener Ben Cooper guided the Dutch side to the very safe victory with the unbeaten knock of 41 runs off 53 balls. The Netherlands won by eight wickets with 29 balls remaining.
The two group champions of this Qualifier tournament, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Ireland, have directly qualified for the semifinals of this tournament as well as secured their spots for the next ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
In the semi-final of this Qualifier tournament, Ireland will play against the Netherlands on 1st November 2019 at Dubai (DSC).
Australia will host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 from 18th October to 15th November 2020. The 2020 edition will be the fourth time when the Netherlands will participate in the T20 WC.