T20 World Cup: Netherlands captain Scott Edwards praised his side’s disciplined bowling display after they beat Namibia by seven wickets in their Group A clash of 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
Fast-bowling all-rounder Bas de Leede was the standout performer, scoring an unbeaten 72 and taking two wickets to become the first Dutch player to achieve the double of a fifty and two wickets in a T20 World Cup match.
His innings guided the Netherlands to complete a chase of 157, with two overs to spare, after restricting Namibia to 156/8. The victory marked the Netherlands’ biggest win in terms of wickets in T20 World Cup history and got their campaign back on track after a narrow defeat to Pakistan.
"Pretty good day I thought, I think we probably got a little bit of the better conditions there. I thought our guys bowled really well through the powerplay, and obviously taking those wickets late and restricting them to what we thought was a little bit below-par score," he said in the post-game presentation ceremony.
Namibia’s batting line-up featured several left-handers, and Edwards was pleased with how his offspinners, especially young Aryan Dutt, handled the challenge. "We back our right-arm offies to bowl to all left-handers and right-handers, but it is nice when there's a few left-handers through the middle there and we can sort of keep bowling that spin at them. So, I think in the end they actually negated it quite well, but I thought the bowlers all-round were quite good."
On de Leede’s all-round performance, Edwards was effusive in his praise. "He does it all, doesn't he? I thought he was sensational with the ball there, he obviously bowled his first over, I think, in about the 10th over there and just really took control of the game for us and then was pretty clinical with the bat as well."
Namibia’s batting line-up featured several left-handers, and Edwards was pleased with how his offspinners, especially young Aryan Dutt, handled the challenge. "We back our right-arm offies to bowl to all left-handers and right-handers, but it is nice when there's a few left-handers through the middle there and we can sort of keep bowling that spin at them. So, I think in the end they actually negated it quite well, but I thought the bowlers all-round were quite good."
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Looking ahead, Edwards stressed the importance of their next fixture against the USA in Chennai. "Massive, obviously. I think we've got to win that game to give ourselves a chance. So we'll be obviously travelling tomorrow and then getting really, getting ready for that game and hopefully put in a good performance."