Netherlands v Afghanistan: Cricket World Cup 2023 – live | Cricket World Cup 2023
Key events
4th over: Netherlands 17-1. (Ackermann 10, O’Dowd 6)
A four comes off the first ball of the over, Farooqi straying down leg and Ackermann clips it nicely for a boundary down to fine leg.
3rd over: Netherlands 13-1. (Ackermann 6, O’Dowd 6)
Ackermann picks up three with an edge off a very wide ball down leg side. O’Dowd was lucky not to be pinned lbw, too. It looked plumb but there was a thick inside edge on to his pad first.
2nd over: Netherlands 9-1. (Ackermann 1, O’Dowd 6)
Max O’Dowd, with his flowing locks, strokes the first boundary of the innings straight down the ground. A fine stroke off the seamers of Fazal Farooqi. O’Dowd picks up a single down to fine leg, too.
1st over: Netherlands 3-1. (Ackermann 0, O’Dowd 1)
An ideal start for Afghanistan. Mujeeb Ur Rahman nearly gets through Wesley Barresi’s defence with the first ball of the innings, a googly that he fails to read … there are a couple of singles and a wide down the leg side before Barresi is trapped lbw by Ur Rahman, a ball that nips back a touch and is probably hitting leg stump. I think I might have fanced a review there, and they think about one, but decide against it and eventually Barresi is off. The hawkeye replay confirms it is indeed clipping leg stump.
And they’re off! Ur Rahman’s wrist spinners to begin for Afghanistan.
Teams
Netherlands won the toss and will bat. Teams:
Netherlands: Barresi, O’Dowd, Ackermann, Engelbrecht, Edwards, De Leede, Zulfiqar, Van Beek, Van der Merwe, Dutt, Van Meekeren
Afghanistan: Gurbaz, Zadran, Shahidi, Shah, Omarzai, Ali Khil, Nabi, Khan, Ur Rahman, Ahmad, Farooqi
The teams are out, and it’s time for the anthems.
Preamble
I’ll be honest, I haven’t been fortunate enough to watch much of this tournament so far. But I hear Afghanistan have been doing great things, and am very much looking forward to watching them play today.
You might be forgiven for thinking that a relatively inauspicious cricketing nation such as the Netherlands would be propping up the 10-team round-robin standings, but that dubious honour is, of course, England’s.
Along with Afghanistan, the Dutch have been doing great things themselves, most notably their stunning victory against South Africa last month. They’ve also beaten Bangladesh (who are second-bottom) so today’s encounter in Lucknow could be a cracker, although Google’s win probability widget gives a 76% chance of an Afghanistan success.
Let’s hope cricket is the winner. We begin at 8.30am UK time.
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