NEW DELHI: Sybrand Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek scored their maide half-centuries in one-day international cricket as the Netherlands bounced back from a shaky start to reach a total of 262 against Sri Lanka in their ICC World Cup match in Lucknow on Saturday.
The 35-year-old Engelbrecht reached his milestone in 65 deliveries, featuring three boundaries and a six. On the other hand, Van Beek reached his fifty in 68 balls, which included just one four at that point.
Engelbrecht, originally from South Africa, and Van Beek, a native of New Zealand, played an instrumental role in the Dutch recovery after the team was struggling at 91-6. They put up a resilient seventh-wicket partnership of 130 runs.
Their partnership was eventually broken when left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka bowled Engelbrecht for 70, with the scoreboard reading 221.
Van Beek was dismissed for 59 runs, becoming the fourth victim of the recalled fast bowler Kasun Rajitha.
Madushanka concluded with impressive figures of 4-49, while Rajitha took 4-50.
A cause for concern for the Sri Lankan team was the 33 extras they conceded, with a staggering 26 of them being wides.
Opting to bat after winning the toss, the Netherlands had a challenging start, losing Vikramjit Singh (4), Max O'Dowd (16) and Colin Ackermann (29) to Rajitha, which left them at 54-3.
Madushanka dismissed Bas de Leede (6) and Teja Nidamanuru (9), and spinner Maheesh Theekshana secured the crucial wicket of skipper Scott Edwards (16).
The Dutch went through 20 overs without managing to hit a boundary, after which Engelbrecht and Van Beek orchestrated their recovery.
Sri Lanka remains the only team in the 10-nation tournament yet to secure a victory after suffering three consecutive defeats.
(AI image)
Brief scores: Netherlands 262 in 49.4 overs (Sybrand Engelbrecht 70, Logan van Beek 59; Dilshan Madushanka 4-49, Kasun Rajitha 4-50,) vs Sri Lanka
(With AFP inputs)
