The Netherlands overcame Zimbabwe by five wickets with two overs remaining in the ICC T20 World Cup on Wednesday at Adelaide Oval, riding the strong half-century of opener Max O'Dowd to put an end to Zimbabwe's ambitions of reaching the semifinals.
O'Dowd (52 from 47 balls) and Tom Cooper (32 from 29 balls) gave Netherlands a strong start, and Craig Ervine's team was bowled for just 117 in 19.2 overs. The Dutch queered the field for Zimbabwe, who, had they scored two points on Wednesday, would have made things even more interesting in Group 2, despite the fact that they were already out of contention for a semifinal spot.
Although the Netherlands have created a number of highlights thus far in the competition, their performance against Zimbabwe was nearly flawless. The best bowlers were Paul van Meekeren (3/29) and fellow seamer Bas de Leede (2/13) as Zimbabwe was out for 117 in their penultimate over, and their run chase was a simple procession as they easily reached the winning score.
O'Dowd and Cooper were the cornerstones of the chase, putting up 73 runs for the second wicket as the Netherlands easily won the Super 12 stage for the first time.
According to the International Cricket Council (ICC), O'Dowd has been one of the T20 World Cup's most impressive players so far. The Netherlands opener has gathered the most runs of any player at the competition so far with 213 runs from seven innings.
Prior to the game on Wednesday, Cooper's T20 World Cup had been in total contrast; the veteran, who was born in Australia, had scored just 40 runs from six innings. Cooper, though, displayed his talent with a significant knock at the top of the order while batting on a surface he would have had much of experience playing on with Australian local team South Australia.
Sikandar Raza, an all-rounder for Zimbabwe, was the only player for the African team. The 36-year-old scored a quickfire 40 off just 24 deliveries to give Zimbabwe some momentum going into the middle overs. But as wickets kept falling in rapid succession, Fred Klaassen managed to hold on to a brilliant catch in the outfield as Raza tried to knock his fourth six.
The only other player from Zimbabwe to reach double digits was Sean Williams (28), and despite having a track that appeared to be favourable for batting, their total was far below average.
The loss ends Zimbabwe's chances of making the semifinal grade, with Ervine's side now needing to regroup ahead of a tough match-up against India in Melbourne on Sunday.
The Dutch will now be fighting for pride - and a second successive win -- when they take on South Africa in Adelaide on Sunday.
Brief scores: Zimbabwe 117 in 19.2 overs (Sikandar Raza 40; Paul van Meekeren 3/29, Bas de Leede 2/14) lost to Netherlands 120/5 in 18 overs (Max O'Dowd 52, Tom Cooper 32) by 5 wickets.