The stage was perfectly set for both Scotland and Netherlands. The equation was plain and simple. The winner gets a place at the ultimate competition- The World Cup, which is held in arguably the biggest place where you can display your qualities to the world: India. You lose, and the dream is shattered, with everything you’ve worked for counting for nothing.
And in the end, it was the Netherlands who kept their cool. This is not to say that Scotland played poorly. But it was just about them falling just that little bit short on the key moments of the game.
But the game will be known for a memorable battle between two of the game’s best players. It was each side’s top performers throughout the course of the tournament. This was a battle of the all-rounders.
Brandon McMullen and Bas de Leede led their teams with awe-inspiring performances with both bat and ball. Both of them scored fantastic hundreds with the bat, and both of them did a mighty good job with the ball as well, but in the end it was de Leede and Netherlands who crossed the finish line, leaving Scotland and McMullen crestfallen.
Brandon McMullen continued to show why he has the potential to become Scotland’s crown jewel. Batting in at number 3, he shepherded the batting with a level of proficiency that only some of the best names in world cricket do. He rotated the strike expertly, and then accelerated with aplomb when the opportunity presented itself.
His 106 was laced with 11 boundaries and 3 sixes. By the time he departed, he had done just enough. And even with the ball, he contributed with a wicket of seasoned campaigner Wesley Baresi, to ensure that Scotland were in the game at all times.
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It was de Leede, however, who stole the show with both bat and ball. With the ball, he was fantastic. He took a 5-fer in the Scottish batting innings, taking wickets at regular intervals to put the brakes on Scotland. He took key wickets of skipper Richie Berrington and Michael Leask among the five and made sure that the score was restricted to 277, where it could have been much much more.
With the bat, he came out in the middle with the Dutch somewhat tottering at 94-3. That later became 108-4 which sent panic bells ringing. But de Leede remained undeterred. He stitched two partnerships in succession, one with Scott Edwards and the other with Saqib Zulfiqar. He rotated the strike to perfection and mixed caution and aggression to perfection.
And when 50 runs were required in 4 overs, he went into absolute overdrive. He first smashed two back to back sixes off Mark Watt to bring up his ton in style. And in the next over, repeated the trick against McMullen. He would have taken the team home himself if not for some excellent fielding to run him out. But by then a Dutch victory was just a formality, with only 2 runs required.
Today was a tale of two all rounders who fought tooth and nail to get their team to victory. But only one prevailed. Both shone with a rare sense of brightness. But one shone brighter than the other. And that was the difference at the end of the day.
