Watch: Bas de Leede winked at Haris Rauf after hooking him for six over square leg during his fighting half-century in the Netherlands v Pakistan game at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad today (October 6).
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Deo Leede was the star of the night for Netherlands with both bat and ball. In the first innings, he took four wickets for 62 runs, taking two wickets in an over twice, before coming out to bat at N0.4 in the run-chase and top-scoring with a battling 67 off 68 balls.
During his knock of 67, he hit six fours and two sixes, one of which came a rapid Haris Rauf bouncer that was hooked over the square leg boundary in the 29th over of the innings. De Leede followed it up with a cheeky wink at Rauf, reminding everyone of what transpired between the two at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.
During the Pakistan-Netherlands game at the T20 World Cup last year, de Leede was struck in the helmet by a Rauf bouncer that left him injured. He had to be taken off the field and was replaced by concussion substitute Logan van Beek.
After that match, Rauf had a conversation with de Leede where he wished the all-rounder well and told him to come back strong. “Hope for your speedy recovery. Come back stronger and hit long sixes again,” were Rauf’s words.
De Leede’s wink was almost certainly a reference to that incident. He was eventually dismissed by Mohammad Nawaz in the 34th over for 67, effectively ending Netherlands’ hopes for a victory.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan had managed to put up 286 despite losing three quick wickets early on thanks to fifties by Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel and lower-order resistance from Shadab Khan and Nawaz.
Watch Bas de Leede wink at Haris Rauf after hooking bouncer for six:
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