Netherlands loses to Australia in third T20 World Cup defeat

The Netherlands fell to their third consecutive defeat at the women’s T20 World Cup, brushed aside by six-time champions Australia in Southampton.

It’s not often teams look back on a 98-run hammering against the No. 1 ranked side in the world with fond memories.

But De Leede couldn’t stop smiling as she reflected on the game. She had walked off unbeaten on 56, after a warm embrace with Robine Rijke, also playing in her 100th game in the format, cheered on by the Orange Army in the Shane Warne stand.

“It’s unbelievable. On my very first tour with the Dutch team, I was 14 years old. I watched a county cricket game live here in this stadium. It’s just very special to score a half century in my 100th game against the best team in the world,” De Leede told Dutch News, beaming, moments after exchanging jerseys with her idol Beth Mooney in the Australian dressing room.

Mooney had earlier shown why she is the current world No. 1 batter in the format, powering her way through an unbeaten 74 from 42 balls, striking nine fours and a six, but had to retire hurt due to back stiffness after the second drinks break.

It was her 102-run partnership with Ash Gardner (52) for the third wicket that set the platform for Australia posting their highest-ever total at a T20 World Cup and equalling England’s record on the opening night.

The gulf between the two sides was apparent. If Mooney was inventive, Gardner was calculated; both manipulated the field smartly, going down the ground and scooping the seamers behind the square at will as the Dutch looked clueless in the field.

“Australia have such quality batters, some of the shots they played, we can only watch and admire,” said De Leede. “One of the main reasons why we bowled first was to get the most out of this game. We are here for the first time and want to win but we are also here to learn and have these experiences.”

There were improvements from the India game, when the Dutch bowlers conceded as many as 16 extras, and seamer Iris Zwilling (3-52) finally broke the duck to give the side their first wicket in the powerplay. But the bowlers erred bowling either too full or too wide, not helped by misfields and dropped catches.

In response, when the Dutch openers Heather Siegers and Phebe Molkenboer both departed in the powerplay, it put the result beyond doubt.

But Kalis, who plays domestically for Yorkshire and had only scored 4 and 18 coming into this game, rose to the occasion to put up some resistance and was the aggressor in a 96-run stand with De Leede as Australian bowlers struggled to break through.

Kalis, who also became the first Dutch player to score 2000 WT20I runs, was more conventional with her square drives but it was her lofted six over long-off off leg spinner Alana King that stood out. De Leede, on the other hand, skilfully swept and cut the spinners behind square as the Dutch eventually finished with 121 for 3.

The team will now move to Bristol, where they will take on South Africa on Thursday (7:30pm CEST) in their penultimate game. All matches are live and free-to-air on NOS and ICC’s YouTube channel.