All-round de Leede leads Netherlands to thumping win over Namibia

Bas de Leede put on an impressive all-round show to help Netherlands beat Namibia by seven wickets in their Logan van Beek - to peg back Namibia.

Asked to bat first, Namibia put on 156 for 8 despite a lot of big-hitters getting starts but not carrying on. Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton was their top-scorer with 42, and Namibia couldn't quite get into a strong position. The result meant Netherlands have got their campaign back on track after the heartbreak against Pakistan.

Scott Edwards brought de Leede on for two spells, and on both occasions, the medium pacer gave his captain breakthroughs. He removed Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus just when he had started to strike the ball cleanly, while JJ Smit also fell to de Leede when he was starting to look dangerous.

When he went out with the bat, de Leede initially let Michael Levitt take more of the strike, before recalibrating to enforcer mode. He added 70 runs for the third wicket with Colin Ackermann, hammering seven boundaries, including three sixes in his innings. All the way to Netherlands' win.

Before the de Leede show with the bat, Levitt got Netherlands off to a flyer, with a six off Bernard Scholtz in the first over of the chase. He didn't blink after losing opening partner Max O'Dowd in the third over, smashing Scholtz for a four later in the same over. And when Smit was brought into the attack, Levitt put him away over the midwicket boundary for another six.

De Leede joined in the fun, hammering Max Heingo for a 90m six over long-on, followed by Levitt flicking Ruben Trumpelmann for his third six. But that was all for the big-hitting opener, as he fell to the left-arm quick later in the same over. Levitt, though, had done the job in the powerplay.

In the first half, the Netherlands bowlers never quite allowed the Namibia batters to settle into a rhythm. No sooner had Jan Frylinck started to hit the ball freely in his 50-run second-wicket stand with Loftie-Eaton, than van Beek removed him with a cutter that took a thin inside edge through to the keeper.

Namibia captain Erasmus too fell after a big over, when de Leede had him caught at midwicket for 18 off nine balls. De Leede also removed Smit after the batter had taken on Timm van der Gugten in the 15th over. Attempting a late cut, Smit was bowled for 22 off 15 balls, again forcing Namibia to slow down in the last three-and-a-hald overs.

Trumplemann's needless run out shortly after hitting a six in the 19th over was another instance of a Namibia batter falling immediately after gathering a bit of momentum.

While the other Namibia batters struggled to get going after good starts, Loftie-Eaton took his time. He was at 25 off 27 balls in the tenth over, before hitting Ackermann for a six and a four in the 11th over. That was the only time that he really opened up.

Loftie-Eaton, however, fell just on the cusp of something big, in the 15th over. It would have certainly helped Namibia's scoring rate had their anchorman for the day batted in the death overs.