Redemption for Netherland's Bas de Leede at Kotla; buries 2023 ODI World Cup ghost

There's a portrait of Tim de Leede, Bas de Leede's father, hanging just outside of press box at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. Like Bas de Leede, Tim de Leede also played for Netherlands and represented the Dutch in 29 One-Day Internationals (ODIs).

Tim's first international wicket came in the 2003 World Cup when he had dismissed India's legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar. So cricket runs deep in Leede family and Tim's portrait at Kotla makes it a special venue for the family.

Bas de Leede on Tuesday delivered a special performance at the same venue and showed his all-round prowess as he led Netherlands to a seven-wicket win over Namibia as the Dutch registered their first victory of the T20 World Cup after falling narrowly short against Pakistan in the tournament opener on February 7.

However, the things were not that hunky-dowry for Bas de Leede the last time he played in Delhi. Netherlands were facing Australia in a group-stage match of the ODI World Cup 2023 and the Flying Dutchmen were thrashed all along the ground as Pat Cummins' side scored 399 in the first innings.

Bas de Leede made an unwanted record of conceding most runs in an innings in ODIs. In his quota of 10 overs, he was hit for 115 runs by the Australians at an economy of 11.50.

"To be honest, It's obviously a record that nobody wants, but I wasn't too fussed about it and it wasn't in the back of my head today. I'm pretty - yeah, I'm pretty forgetting in terms of performances, so It's nice to put in a good performance today," Ledde said when asked about that 2023 match on Tuesday after the match.

Netherlands were bowled out for mere 90 in their chase of 399 and lost the match by 309 runs, and it was a forgettable outing for Dutchmen and Leede.

On Tuesday, Leede turned the things around for himself and his team as he played an unbeaten knock of 72 off 48 balls in Netherlands' chase of 157. Leede hit 5 boundaries and four sixes in his innings and made sure there were no hiccups in Netherland's chase as they reached the target with 12 balls remaining.

Earlier, Leede played a significant role with the ball too, to restrict Namibia at 156 in the first innings. He took two wickets in his three overs while conceding just 20 runs. He took the wickets of Namibian skipper Gerhard Erasmus (18 off 9) and JJ Smit (22 off 15 balls), only Namibian batters who scored at the strike rate of over 140.

In 2023 ODI World Cup match against Austraia, Netherlands were bowled out for mere 90 in their chase of 399 and lost the match by 309 runs, and it was a forgettable outing for Dutchmen and Leede.

But against Namibia, Leede made sure it was a memorable day for the Dutchmen in Delhi. "Obviously coming from a cricketing family in the Netherlands, to be able to perform and hopefully make my family proud is really special," Leede said in the post-match press conference.


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