Netherlands and their recent showing in the ICC tournaments had created a lot of anticipation before the T20 World Cup 2024. Scott Edwards and his side had done reasonably well during the last T20 World Cup in 2022 and had done well during the ODI World Cup in 2023.
In their very first game of the tournament, they had beaten Nepal in a low-scoring encounter. It was almost the perfect start to the campaign as the Dutch side were looking to stamp their authority in the Group D.
The Dutch had beaten South Africa the last time the two sides had met in an ICC tournament. On this occasion though a gritty knock by David Miller had seen South Africa through to a close win against Netherlands.
Needing a win to stay alive in the tournament, Netherlands took on Bangladesh. Shakib Al Hasan’s brilliance with the bat and some tight bowling by Rishad Hossain saw Netherlands lose by 25 runs. The men in orange now take on Sri Lanka who are down and out mentally and will look to pile more agony on the islanders.
Here are the top 3 Netherlands players to watch out for against Sri Lanka
3. Sybrand Engelbrecht
The veteran South Africa born Dutch star has been having a decent time with the bat during the T20 World Cup 2024 edition. Sybrand Engelbrecht has scored 87 runs from 3 matches with a best of 40 runs with an average of 29. His 33 against Bangladesh nearly got the Dutch side back into the contest. The right-handed batter is a terrific hitter of the ball and has the ability to use the long handle against the pacers and the spinners with ease.
2. Aryan Dutt
The tall off-spinner from Netherlands has been turning heads with his wicket-taking abilities. Aryan Dutt missed the first two games of the T20 World Cup but made his way back into the team for the match against Bangladesh. The 21-year-old ended the day with figures of 2/17 from his 4 overs. Aryan Dutt has already played Sri Lanka when the two sides met during the warm-up game. On that day he picked 3/20 which gave Netherlands a 20-run win over Sri Lanka.
1. Paul Van Meekren
31-year-old pace bowler Paul Van Meekeren may not have been in form leading up to the T20 World Cup. The pacer from Amsterdam though was at his best in the game against Bangladesh as he mixed his pace well and got 2/15 from his 4 overs. Paul Van Meekeren first dismissed Tanzid Hasan for 35 and then got the wicket of danger man Mahmudullah for 25.