World Cup 2023: After South Africa, now Netherlands captain Scott Edwards, who has caused an upset in Bangladesh, has warned other teams and told what is their next target? On Saturday he said that his team’s aim is still to make it to the semi-finals of the World Cup. Batting first, Netherlands scored 229 runs after losing all the wickets in 50 overs. In response, Bangladesh team was out for 142 runs in 42.2 overs. This is Bangladesh’s fifth consecutive defeat. He has two points in six matches and is almost out of the race for the semi-finals. Netherlands have four points from their second win in six matches and have kept their hopes alive.
‘…but this is still our goal’
Captain Scott Edwards said after Netherlands’ 87-run win, ‘The last 18 months have been very good for us. We felt that we had worked hard and we were getting results. At the beginning of the tournament, we had talked about giving ourselves a chance to reach the semi-finals. The path to reach the semi-finals is difficult but this is still our goal.
‘Our bowlers performed brilliantly’
He said about the match, ‘I had talked to some of my players and said that if we score more than 220 runs then we will have a chance. Our bowlers performed brilliantly. Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said that they should have restricted Netherlands to around 170 runs.
Focus on ending the tournament with a win
He said, ‘I think we bowled really well but our fielding was not good. Considering the situation we were in, we should have restricted them to 160-170. Our batsmen disappointed us again. Now we will focus on ending the tournament with a win.
We are very happy to be back
Netherlands fast bowler Paul Van Meekeren took four wickets for 23 runs and was adjudged the player of the match. Paul Van Meekeren said, ‘This victory is special for us. We had said that we want to make it to the semi-finals and for this we will have to win matches. We are very happy with the way we bounced back after the defeat against Australia.