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Rediff.com  » Cricket » Netherlands' hero Paul van Meekeren reveals their 'semis dream'

Netherlands' hero Paul van Meekeren reveals their 'semis dream'

Source: PTI
Last updated on: October 29, 2023 02:09 IST
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Paul van Meekeren

Photograph: Kind Courtesy Paul van Meekeren/X

Netherlands continues to be the giant-killers in the World Cup, with another exceptional performance that led to an impressive 87-run victory over Bangladesh in Kolkata.

Netherlands' hero of the day Paul van Meekeren said his team still has the determination to go all the way to the semifinals after causing another upset of the World Cup.

The Dutch had defeated South Africa earlier in the tournament.

Pace bowler Van Meekeren's superb figures of 4 for 23 aided by Bas de Leede's equally potent bowling (2/25) decimated Bangladesh.

 

Van Meekeren said the victory was special.

"Pretty special. We said we wanted to go for the semis, you need to win games. Very happy with how we bounced back after Australia (loss). We were pretty confident (today)," said van Meekeren.

"At the halfway mark of our innings we thought 230-240 (would be a challenging total] and we got there. Aryan Dutt and Logan van Beek kept it very tight in the first 10 overs," added van Meekeren.

On the crisp fielding efforts by his players, he said it was because the team does a 20-minute drill before every game.

"Every training we come in and do 20 minutes of fielding. Bassy (Bas de Leede) got a good throw at the stumps tonight. Hard to pick an individual performance. Pure team performance," he said.

This is the first time Netherlands have won twice at the same World Cup, courtesy their aggressive and disciplined bowling effort.

Dutch skipper Scott Edwards said his bowlers had put in a superb effort.

"I was sort of speaking to a couple of guys and we thought that if we could get somewhere around 220-plus, we would have a chance. They (bowlers) have all been brilliant."

On Netherlands' strong showing in this World Cup, he said the "system" to play the game in the country was improving.

"Probably a bit of everything. The system has been getting better in Netherlands. We have had a good 18 months. We feel like we are putting the work in and we are getting some of those rewards. We spoke at the start of the tournament about giving us a chance at the semis and that looks tricky but that'll remain our goal."

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