Netherlands’ Performance in T20 World Cup

Netherlands Team Schedule for T20 World Cup 2022

Netherlands T20 Squad S.W.O.T Analysis

Strengths – Netherlands’ batting unit looks exciting with the prolific Max O’Dowd and Bas De Leede at the top and the in-form Scott Edwards in the lower middle order. But most importantly, the presence of experienced New South Wales born Tom Cooper in the middle would be quite assuring for the team as Cooper knows Australian conditions quite well on account of having played a lot of his cricket in the country. Despite the apparent strength in the batting line-up, the team needs to keep collapses like the one sustained against Zimbabwe in the final of the Qualifiers.

Weaknesses – Scott Edwards might have been the batting star of the team in 2022 but his captaincy credentials aren’t the strongest. To lead the team at the age of 25 in such a big tournament in only his first year as the leader of the side will be quite a challenge for Edwards. Add to the fact that the team will have three matches in a matter of 5 days to play which would decide their fate and the challenge looks even bigger for both Edwards and his team.

Opportunities – After having appeared in four of the five World Cups from 1996, Netherlands were one of the aggrieved parties when the ICC decided to hold a 10 team 50 over World Cup in 2015. The kind of performances they had put up in the T20 World Cups of 2014 and 2016 had made the voices in support of the inclusion of Associate Nations in big tournaments stronger. However, the performance put up by the team in the 2021 T20 World Cup was disappointing and by bouncing back in the upcoming T20 World Cup, Netherlands can get those voices supporting more exposure for Associate Nations stronger again.

Threats – Netherlands, like the other seven teams competing in the group stage of the tournament, will have a very brief window in which their destiny will be decided. Since they don’t have much experience of playing in Australia, it will be a big challenge to adjust to the conditions quickly and also deliver wins that can keep them alive in the tournament and take them to the Super 12s.

Netherlands Team’s Performance in T20 World Cup

Netherlands have appeared in a number of 50-over World Cups starting from 1996 but it was what they did in their first match of the 2009 T20 World Cup that got the cricketing world talking about them. Playing the host nation England at Lord’s, Netherlands managed to pull off an upset by defeating England by 4 wickets. Although they failed to repeat their heroics in any of the subsequent T20 World Cups, they did manage to perform decently in the 2014 and 2016 editions of the T20 World Cup where they registered four wins under the leadership of Peter Borren. Their win over Ireland by chasing 190 in less than 14 overs in the 2014 edition of the tournament is also considered one of the best performances of the T20 World Cup.

They were led by Pieter Seelaar in the 2021 edition of the tournament but faced an embarrassing defeat against Namibia which blocked their entry to the Super 12s. Seelar retired in mid-2022 and handed over the reins to exciting young wicketkeeper batsman Scott Edwards. While Edwards’ batting has impressed one and all, Edwards would know that his task is cut out for the Australian challenge as the team would like to progress to the Super 12s of the tournament this year.

The Men in Orange became one of the last couple of teams to make it to the 2022 T20 World Cup. They defeated the United States of America before losing to Zimbabwe in the final of the Qualifiers. Their defeat to Zimbabwe meant that they would join Namibia, Sri Lanka and United Arab Emirates in Group A in trying to make it to the Super 12s.