Watch: Logan van Beek, facing his first ball in the do-or-die ICC World Cup Qualifier against Scotland, drove a full-length ball by Chris Sole towards mid-off to complete a single and officially book the Netherlands’ ticket for the 2023 World Cup.
The Netherlands needed to chase down Scotland’s 278 in 44 overs to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 2011 on Thursday (July 6). The side started cautiously, making 65 for the first wicket in 12.3 overs, before wickets fell in a flurry. They were reduced to 163-5 in the 31st over, before Bas de Leede took on the attack, en route to a blazing, counter-attacking 92-ball 123.
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With 45 more runs needed in four overs to book a qualification spot, the Netherlands’ hopes were dying out but five sixes in the space of ten deliveries turned the game around, reducing the equation to three in two overs. The winning runs were scored in the fifth ball of the 43rd over, a moment that saw varied emotions, from the uncontrollable ecstasy of the Dutch to the despair of the Scottish players.
This will be the fifth time that the Netherlands will play in the World Cup, after first appearing in the edition in 1996. Scotland, on the other hand, have made it to three World Cups, their last being the 2015 edition Down Under.
