NED VS SCO - Super Sixes, Match 8, ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2023

The Dutch players pose in front of the Namaste India 2023 hoarding! All of them are screaming in joy. What a spirited performance from them. They had the 'never say die' attitude throughout the tournament. Got to feel for Scotland and Zimbabwe though. Three teams tied on six points and it needed NRR to separate them. Netherlands will celebrate this for a long time. They had to chase down the target in 44 overs and they romped him with 7 balls to spare, thanks to Bas de Leede's fifer+century. The Dutch will be featuring in the ODI World Cup for the first time since 2011. They have one more match to play in this tournament - the final against Sri Lanka. But it's importance is significantly less when compared to their last two Super Sixes encounter. Tune in on Sunday for that clash. Until then, it's goodbye from all of us down here...

Scott Edwards: Extremely (happy). Lost for words. We thought that the WI game was a bit on the heart but the last 20 overs there, what Saqib and Bas did was next level. It was unbelievable to watch. This group is just excellent. We are with each other day in and day out in the Netherlands. We put in the hard work. We were confident. We had different match-winners. Pretty awesome feeling. From looking at the wicket at the start, probably not. It seemed like it was a good wicket. Got bit tricky in the last 30 overs, unbelievable batting by Bas and Saqib at the end. We had belief the whole way through. Cooky brought the batting group together at the halfway point - the white board had 140 at 26 overs, we were maybe 15-20 behind. We knew what we wanted to do. We needed a couple of batters to cash in at the back-end. (On Bas de Leede) Build the man a statue. That was an unbelievable game. Hard to find a better performance in ODI cricket in a long time. He's an unbelievable player. Everyone is aware of that. It's not the first time he's done it and it won't be the last.

Richie Berrington: Very tough one to take. The guys will be hurting right now. I am extremely proud of the guys for the fight we have shown. Unfortunately, today it wasn't quite enough. Got to give credit to Netherlands the way they played. Through the middle phase, we created pressure and managed to get the momentum back. We weren't as disciplined as we've been through the tournament, they ran well between the wickets. The bowlers have been fantastic throughout the tournament, can't fault their efforts at all. Lot of credit to Netherlands, especially Bas de Leede. It was a different sort of wicket. Not as much swing today, slightly different tactics. We were prepared and ready for today. We knew we had to beat some really good teams. Holland were the better team today and they found a way to get over the line.

Bas de Leede | Player of the Match: We had a look at the targets, where we wanted to be at the halfway point. Maxy and Vikram set the platform for the rest of us to finish it well. The rate was 10-11 RPO, so we had to go to the T20 mode, try as many runs as we could and see where it would take us. It's amazing, can't describe the feeling, it's going to be one big party tonight (on qualifying for the 2023 WC)

Logan van Beek: I'm honestly buzzing right now, just sitting with the boys, I'm shaking right now, unbelievable. To take it back, we had to get 1 off 1, I just wanted to keep it down and run as fast as I could. We tried to build a culture, each one of us brought our own spirit and we cashed in, we overcame all obstacles, no one gave us a shot, but now we're going to the World Cup. All hail Bas de Leede.

Vikramjit Singh: I've got no words this is the best feeling ever, we've worked so hard for the last 5 months, wishing to qualify, unreal, unreal. We were expecting these moments, these scenarios in the last 5 months. We've smoked them, no words to explain. We were confident that if we get a good start, we'll have a chance.

The Dutch needed 114 runs in 13 overs to progress with five wickets in hand. There were a few quiet overs but Bas de Leede remained calm and Saqib Zulfiqar ably supported him. They ran well, put the pressure on the Scotland fielders and Greaves dropped Zulfiqar on 19. The game was still in the balance with Netherlands needing 45 runs off 4 overs. That's when Bas de Leede decided to switch gears. He smashed back-to-back sixes off Watt to bring up his maiden ODI ton and then followed it with two more sixes against McMullen. 42 runs came off two overs (41st and 42nd) and Scotland had no chance to come back from that.

16:12 Local Time, 14:12 GMT, 19:42 IST: Ecstasy for the Dutch, despair for Scotland! Take a bow, Bas de Leede. Fifer and a century in this must-win game and he's taken his team home. They had to hunt down Scotland's 277 in 44 overs to progress and got off to a good start with their openers involved in a half-century partnership. Leask removed both of them in quick succession. Barresi fell to McMullen and Teja Nidamanuru perished in an attempt to play a big shot. At 108/4, captain Edwards joined Bas de Leede and they forged a fifty stand that kept their team in the hunt. Mark Watt provided what looked like a crucial breakthrough by trapping the Dutch captain lbw, a controversial moment as Berrington signalled 'T' after the clocked ticked 0.

Chris Sole to van Beek, 1 run, pitched up, driven to the left of mid-off who makes a diving stop. But the batsmen take the single. Netherlands win by 4 wickets and they become the tenth team to make it to the 2023 ODI World Cup!

Chris Sole to Saqib Zulfiqar, 1 run, moves leg-side and squeeze-drives through the covers. They rightly decide against the second

Chris Sole to Saqib Zulfiqar, no run, another yorker, Saqib Zulfiqar digs it out

Logan van Beek, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Chris Sole to Bas de Leede, out Bas de Leede Run Out!! Direct-hit at the bowler's end and Bas de Leede is gone! Sole slips in a yorker, the batsman brings his bat down just in time to jam it towards mid-wicket. Sharif runs in, picks the ball and hits the bullseye with an underarm throw. End of a fantastic knock from Bas de Leede! Bas de Leede run out (Safyaan Sharif) 123(92) [4s-7 6s-5]

Chris Sole to Bas de Leede, THATS OUT!! Run Out!!

Chris Sole to Saqib Zulfiqar, 1 run, 139kph, short of length delivery, Saqib Zulfiqar stays back to defend, inside edges it into the on-side for a quick single

Chris Sole [7.0-1-36-0] is back into the attack

Just 3 needed for Netherlands now. And they have two overs to get there...

McMullen to Bas de Leede, 2 runs, yorker, jammed to cover for a sharp single. Oh there's overthrows as well as the fielder misses the target at the bowler's end. 20 runs off the over!

McMullen to Bas de Leede, SIX, shouts of 'catch it' but that's gone for six. Full on off and Bas de Leede plays the lofted off-drive, enough wood on it to clear the jumping long-off fielder. The man in the deep might have misjudged it a bit. He ran in initially and then had to backpedal. Jumped but the ball was out of his reach

McMullen to Bas de Leede, 2 runs, very full delivery, squeezed towards long-on for another couple