AHMEDABAD: India completed a flawless run in the group stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with a hard-fought 17-run victory over the Netherlands at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday. An outstanding all-round performance from Shivam Dube, combined with a clinical spell from Varun Chakravarthy, ensured India finished with four wins in four matches and entered the Super Eight stage brimming with confidence.
Despite the loss, the Netherlands ended their campaign with plenty of positives, having pushed both India and Pakistan in closely contested matches earlier in the tournament. Chasing a challenging target of 194, Dutch openers Max O’Dowd and Michael Levitt began aggressively, taking on India’s pace attack led by Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah, along with Washington Sundar’s spin. Boundaries flowed early, but Chakravarthy provided the breakthrough in the final over of the powerplay, bowling O’Dowd for 20 off 18 balls as the Netherlands reached 35/1 in 5.4 overs.
Levitt continued to counter-attack confidently before falling to Hardik Pandya for 24, courtesy of a sharp boundary catch by Washington Sundar. At 51/2 in 7.5 overs, the Netherlands still remained in the contest, with Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann adding useful runs to take the side to 72/2 at the halfway mark. However, Chakravarthy struck twice in quick succession, removing Ackermann for 23 and Aryan Dutt for a duck, leaving the Dutch in trouble at 94/4.
Captain Scott Edwards and de Leede attempted to rebuild, taking the score past 100, but Dube dismissed de Leede for 33 to halt the momentum. Soon after, Bumrah bowled Edwards for 15, reducing the Netherlands to 125/6. A spirited late effort from Noah Croes and Zach Lion-Cachet briefly reignited hopes, with 18 runs coming off the 19th over. Dube, however, returned to dismiss Zach for 26, sealing India’s control as the Netherlands finished at 176/7. Chakravarthy’s superb figures of 3/14 and Dube’s 2/38 were the highlights with the ball.
Earlier, India’s innings was anchored by Dube’s explosive maiden T20 World Cup half-century. After captain Suryakumar Yadav chose to bat, India suffered an early setback when Abhishek Sharma registered his third consecutive duck, bowled by Aryan Dutt.
