Skipper Babette de Leede leads from the front with the bat before a clinical effort from the bowlers powers the Netherlands to a thumping victory in the 1st T20I against Italy.
The Netherlands Women’s team led by skipper Babette de Leede is hosting Italy women led by skipper Emilia Bartram for a four-match T20I series. The series commenced on 28th May 2024 and will conclude on 30th May 2024.
The Netherlands skipper Babette de Leede won the toss and opted to bat first. The Netherlands openers Madison Landsman and Iris Zwilling got the home side off to a solid start, scoring above eight runs an over. Llenia Sims struck twice in the 9th over of the innings to remove both the Dutch openers. Robine Rijke joined skipper Babette de Leede at the crease, but the duo failed to stitch a substantial partnership as they lost the wicket of Robine Rijke in the 11th over of the innings. Llenia Sims provided the third breakthrough for Italy.
Sanya Khurana joined skipper Babette de Leede at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 55-run partnership for the 4th wicket. Himanshi Daluwatta picked up the wicket of Sanya Khurana to provide the much-needed breakthrough for her side. The Netherlands eventually ended up with a total of 178/4 in their quota of overs. Skipper Babette de Leede (82 off 42 balls), Madison Landsman (36 off 30 balls), and Iris Zwilling (28 off 22 balls) were the top performers with the bat for the Netherlands.
Llenia Sims (4-0-27-3), Kumudu Peddrick (4-0-28-0), Himanshi Daluwatta (2-0-25-1) , and skipper Emilia Bartram (4-0-36-0) were the top performers with the ball for Italy. Chasing a stiff target of 179, the Italy openers Dilaysha Nanayakkara and wicket-keeper batter Methnara Rathnayake got off to a positive start scoring just above seven runs an over. Hannah Landheer picked up the wicket of Dilaysha Nanayakkara to provide the first breakthrough for the Netherlands. Llenia Sims soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 2nd breakthrough for the Netherlands.
Skipper Emilia Bartram joined wicket-keeper batter Methnara Rathnayake at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 12-run partnership for the 3rd wicket. Caroline de Lange picked up the wicket of wicket-keeper batter Methnara Rathnayake to provide the 3rd breakthrough for her side.
Italy suffered a mini-collapse as they lost their next three wickets for just 12 runs and found themselves in deep trouble at 40/6 around the half-way mark of the run chase. Pasindi Kanankege joined skipper Emilia Bartram at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 23-run partnership for the 7th wicket. Madison Landsman picked up the wicket of Pasindi Kanankege to provide the 7th breakthrough for the Netherlands.
Nimesha Ekanayake joined skipper Emilia Bartram at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 17-run partnership for the 8th wicket. Hannah Landheer came back and picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Emilia Bartram to provide the much-needed breakthrough for her side. Italy were eventually restricted to 84/9 in their quota of overs. The visitors, Italy fell massively short (94 runs) of the target. Skipper Emilia Bartram (39 off 40 balls) led from the front alongside Dilaysha Nanayakkara (12 off 7 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Italy.
Caroline de Lange (4-2-8-2), Madison Landsman (4-0-12-2), Hannah Landheer (3-0-13-2), and Frederique Overdijk (2-0-4-1) were the top performers with the ball for the Netherlands. Skipper Babette de Leede alongside the Netherlands top-order with the bat and the trio of Madison Landsman, Caroline de Lange, and Hannah Landheer alongside other bowlers played a crucial role in helping the home side go 1-0 up in the four-match T20I Series with a massive, and a thumping 94-run victory in the 1st T20I.
The 2nd and the 3rd T20I of the series will be played on 29th May (Wednesday) from 2:30 PM and 6:30 PM IST.
