ROTTERDAM: 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.
