Naseem helps Pakistan defend 206 in last ODI

ROTTERDAM: Pakistan managed a nine-run victory over the Netherlands in their third One-day International here on Sunday.

Pakistan, who had been bowled out for just 206 runs in 49.4 overs, managed to restrict the hosts to 197, thanks to Naseem Shah and Muhammad Waseem, who took five and four wickets, respectively.

Pakistan were threatened by Vikramjit Singh (50) and Tom Cooper (62), but eventually young pacers Naseem and Waseem overcame the hosts batting line.

Tight bowling by the Netherlands restricted Pakistan to just 206 runs with captain Babar Azam top scoring with 91 in the third one-day international in Rotterdam on Sunday.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat on a cool and slightly overcast day, with another big score expected off the dry and bat-friendly pitch.

But Dutch paceman Vivian Kingma struck early when the first ball of his bowling spell saw the bails flying in the second over, sending opener Abdullah Shafique back to the clubhouse at the VOC cricket ground for two runs.

Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals to see Pakistan edge to 150-5 by the 40th over.

Up-and-coming Dutch youngster Aryan Dutt took the crucial wicket of Azam – the world’s top-ranked ODI batsman – when the Pakistani captain was on 91 and seemed set for his 18th ODI century.

Azam pushed the ball into the air with Dutt diving and taking a brilliant one-handed catch for his 10th one-day international wicket.

Dutt eventually ended with figures of 34-1 following behind destroyer in chief Bas de Leede 50-3, who continues to make an impact in the Dutch squad both with bat and ball.

Fellow seemer Logan van Beek also played a crucial role in dismantling the Pakistani innings, removing dangerman Fakhar Zaman’s off-stump in the 17th over.

Van Beek also took two catches – taking Agha Salman off the bowling of Shariz Ahmad and Mohammad Nawaz off De Leede’s bowling – just when Nawaz was getting going and smacking 27 runs off 35 balls.

Pakistan had won the first ODI by 16 runs and the second by seven wickets.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Haris (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zahid Mehmood, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr

Netherlands: Scott Edwards (c & wk), Vikramjit Singh, Tom Cooper, Aryan Dutt, Viv Kingma, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Max O’Dowd, Musa Ahmed, Shariz Ahmed, Logan van Beek.

Score Board

Pakistan won the toss

Pakistan Innings

Abdullah b Kingma 2

Fakhar b Beek 26

Babar (c) c&b Dutt 91

Agha c Beek b Shariz 24

Khushdil run out (Shariz/Cooper) 2

Haris † c Cooper b Leede 4

Nawaz c van Beek b Leede 27

Wasim c †Edwards b Leede 11

Naseem c Beek b Kingma 3

Zahid run out (†Edwards/Kingma) 9

Shahnawaz not out 0

Extras: (w 7) 7

Total: 49.4 Ov (RR: 4.14) 206

Fall of wickets: 1-3 , 1.1 ov, 2-58, 17.2 ov, 3-104, 28.4 ov, 4-122, 31.4 ov, 5-135, 35.1 ov, 6-168 , 42.4 ov, 7-191, 46.3 ov, 8-192, 46.6 ov, 9-206, 49.3 ov, 10-206, 49.4 ov

Bowling: Aryan Dutt 10-1-34-1, Vivian Kingma 5.4-1-15-2, Bas de Leede 9-0-50-3, Tom Cooper 8-0-33-0, Shariz Ahmad 8-0-41-1, Logan van Beek 9-1-33-1

Netherlands Innings(Target: 207)

Vikramjit c † Haris b Wasim 50

Max c Agha b Naseem 3

Musa b Naseem Shah 11

Leede c † Haris b Wasim 5

Cooper c Fakhar b Wasim 62

Edwards (c)† b Naseem 6

Nidamanuru b Naseem 24

Logan c Nawaz b Naseem 8

Shariz run out (Wasim/†Haris) 5

Dutt b Wasim 5

Vivian not out 1

Extras:: (b 1, lb 5, w 11) 17

Total: 49.2 Ov (RR: 3.99) 197 Fall of wickets: 1-10 , 4.1 ov, 2-26, 8.5 ov, 3-37, 13.6 ov, 4-108, 30.3 ov, 5-116, 32.4 ov, 6-172 , 44.5 ov, 7-174, 45.4 ov, 8-189, 48.1 ov, 9-191, 48.3 ov, 10-197, 49.2 ov

Bowling: Naseem Shah 10-0-33-5, Shahnawaz Dahani 10-0-37-0, Mohammad Wasim 9.2-0-36-4, Agha Salman 2-0-5-0, Zahid Mahmood 8-0-39-0, Mohammad Nawaz 10-1-41-0

Match result: Pakistan won by 9 runs

Umpires: Michael Gough, Rizwan Akram