In a tight low-scoring T20 World Cup encounter on Sunday, bowlers led by Bas de Leede helped the Netherlands defeat the United Arab Emirates by three wickets.
In the second game of the day in Geelong, captain Scott Edwards was undefeated at 16, helping the Netherlands surpass their aim of 112 with one ball remaining.
With two wickets in the 14th over, UAE pace spearhead Junaid Siddique recorded figures of 3/24 and put the opposition in danger, but Edwards remained composed to help his side start the first round with a victory.
With his three wickets, De Leede, an all-rounder and fast bowler, spearheaded the effort to hold the UAE to 111/8.
The UAE batsmen, who chose to bat, managed to withstand the methodical Dutch attack despite scoring slowly, reaching 85/2 in 15 overs with Muhammad Waseem getting 41 before being bowled by pace spearhead Fred Klaassen.
The wicket caused a collapse as the UAE fell from 91/2 and managed only 26 runs in the last five overs after De Leede struck three times in the 19th over.
In response, Vikramjit Singh was dismissed for 10, but Max O’Dowd scored 23 runs off only 18 deliveries to help the squad get going quickly.
The Netherlands lost control of their modest chase when Junaid bowled O’Dowd in the sixth over, causing them to lose a flurry of wickets.
In the span of three balls, Junaid struck twice, hitting Tom Cooper (8) and Roelof van der Merwe (0). He also came close to hitting a third time, but captain Chundangapoyil Rizwan lost a catch at cover.
The error paid dearly as Tim Pringle and Edwards combined for 27 runs and snuck home in the penultimate over.