ten Doeschate class sinks Afghanistan

Netherlands 188 (ten Doeschate 58, Bukhari 38, Zadran 4-24) beat Afghanistan 180 (Ali 34, Shenwari 27, ten Doeschate 4-35) by 8 runs
Scorecard

Ryan ten Doeschate used all his all-round experience to deny Afghanistan their second ODI victory, in a tense encounter at Amstelveen which Netherlands won by eight runs.

Afghanistan beat Netherlands to gain their maiden first-class win in the Intercontinental Cup last week, and looked set for their second one-day win in as many matches. Set 189 to win, they were handily placed at 152 for 6 in the 44th over. But Edgar Schiferli had Asghar Stanikzai caught behind while Samiullah Shenwari, who had run well between the wickets in his 27, lost his off stump to ten Doeschate leaving the tail with too much to do.

Eighteen were required from 10 balls with two wickets in hand, and Mirwais Ashraf helped reduce that with a four with a slash off Mudassar Bukhari down to third man. It was a tall ask, however, with 11 needed from the final over, bowled by ten Doeschate, and he wrapped things up with the wickets of Shapoor Zadran and Ashraf in consecutive deliveries to record an eight-run win.

The fate of Netherlands often rests on ten Doeschate, one of the classiest of Associate allrounders, not to mention the cleanest of strikers. Vital though his wickets were in the latter half of the match, without his composed 58 Netherlands might have gifted Afghanistan another victory. Afghanistan's seamers prospered on another surface offering plenty of movement through the air and off the pitch, in particular Zadran, who took four out of the first five to fall. Mudassar Bukhari had played neatly for his 38 before he was run out.

At 86 for 5, Netherlands dug deep. ten Doeschate put on 47 with Daan van Bunge (17), and Peter Borren offered a mature 22 from 30, but both were outclassed by their most accomplished team-mate who cracked two towering sixes in his 85-ball fifty.

Afghanistan have a chance to square the series when the two sides meet again on Tuesday.