Bas de Leede's all-round heroics helps Netherlands seal ODI World Cup spot with win over Scotland

Bulawayo, July 6 (IANS) Bas de Leede took a five-wicket haul and then struck his first century in a magnificent all-round performance for a long time to come as Netherlands became the tenth and last team to book their spot in the 2023 ODI World Cup after beating Scotland by four wickets in an all-important Super Six match of the Qualifiers at Queens Sports Club, here on Thursday.

After taking 5/52 to keep Scotland to 277/9, De Leede overshadowed Brandon McMullen's 106 by hitting 123 off 92 balls, laced with seven fours and five sixes at a strike-rate of 133.7, also his first ODI century.

His efforts, along with Vikramjit Singh's 40 and Saqib Zulfiqar's 33 not out propelled the Netherlands to hunt down 278 in 42.5 overs and book their ticket for the ODI World Cup in India, to be held from October 5 to November 19.

De Leede also became only the fourth player to score a century and take a five-wicket haul in the same men's ODI as Netherlands will be back in a 50-over World Cup for the first time after 2011 edition of the tournament.

Overtaking Scotland on net run rate in a stunning run-chase at Bulawayo has also ensured Netherlands' will make their fifth ODI World Cup appearance, later this year in India. Netherlands will now play the final of Qualifiers against Sri Lanka at Harare on Sunday.

Electing to bowl first, Netherlands' decision at the toss was vindicated when Logan van Beek removed Matthew Cross in the opening over for a two-ball duck. McMullen and Christopher McBride looked to stabilise the innings, but Bas de Leede took out the latter, followed by dismissing George Munsey to leave Scotland on 64/3 in 15 overs.

But McMullen, after biding his time, began punishing the bad balls and eventually brought up his fifty. He accelerated after achieving the milestone and along with Richie Berrington (64) put Scotland in a strong position.

The duo put on a 137-run stand for the fourth wicket -- Scotland's highest ODI partnership for any wicket against Netherlands as McMullen scored his second century of the tournament.

Netherlands finally got a breakthrough with McMullen nicked behind to the keeper off Ryan Klein for 106, but not before pushing Scotland past the 200-run mark. Berrington also brought up his half-century, before being castled by de Leede in the 45th over.

De Leede struck twice in the 49th over to complete his five-wicket haul, his first in ODIs to keep Scotland below 300. In the chase, Vikramjit and Max O'Dowd shared a 65-run opening partnership before Leask removed both in quick succession.

McMullen gave his team more hope for a win by dismissing Wessly Barresi, while Chris Greaves struck to send back Teja Nidamanuru to the pavilion at the half-way mark. With Scott Edwards falling in the 31st over to Mark Watt, Scotland were very much in the game.

But de Leede stood strong to bring up his fifty. Zulfiqar provided the perfect support to de Leede as he began chipping at the runs initially in just ones and twos. When the equation reached 45 off 24 balls, de Leede decided to shift the momentum and it was Watt who had to bear the brunt of the onslaught.

De Leede hit back-to-back sixes to bring up a fantastic century and the third six in that over was hit by Zulfiqar to quickly ease the pressure considerably. Two more sixes came in the next over off McMullen to put Netherlands on the verge of victory.

While de Leede was run-out in the next over, Logan van Beek hit the winning runs to qualify for the ODI World Cup despite missing many frontline players in the qualifiers.

Brief Scores: Scotland 277/9 in 50 overs (Brandon McMullen 106, Richie Berrington 64; Bas de Leede 5/52, Ryan Klein 2/59) lost to Netherlands 278/6 in 42.5 overs (Bas de Leede 123, Vikramjit Singh 40; Michael Leask 2/42, Chris Greaves 1/28) by four wickets.

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