New Zealand continued their excellent form and registered an essential 99-run victory on Monday against the Netherlands in their second match of the ICC World Cup 2023 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, India.
An all-round performance by the Black Caps bolstered their position on the top as after defeating England in the World Cup opening match, the Kiwis beat the Dutch in a one-sided game courtesy of Mitchell Santner’s masterclass with the ball and the bat.
Chasing the target of 323 runs, the Netherlands were off to a poor start as their openers — Vikramjti Singh and Max O’Dowd — failed to deliver their side a significant start.
However, the experienced middle-order batsman Colin Ackermann delivered his side a much-needed breakthrough by scoring 69 off 73 but his heroics weren’t sufficient as the Dutch kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and were shortly all-out for 223 runs.
Captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Scott Edwards was the second top-scorer for his team contributing 30 runs.
Santner bagged the first five-wicket haul of this World Cup, picking five for 59 in 10 overs, Matt Henry got three while Rachin Ravindra bagged one.
Batting first, the top-five batsman of New Zealand — Devon Conway, Will Young, Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, and captain Tom Latham — all contributed numerous runs and got their side in a dominating position.
However, during the last 10 overs, New Zealand lost two wickets in rapid succession but Santner’s late strikes led Black Caps to 322 runs in 50 overs.
Santner scored 36 off just 17 balls which contained five boundaries.
The Black Caps will now play Bangladesh in their next match on October 13 on the spinning wicket of Chennai while the Dutch will encounter South Africa on October 17 in Dharamshala.
