NL vs SCT 6th Match Prediction

NL vs SCT Team Previews

Netherlands

The Netherlands was unbeaten in this series up until this last loss to Scotland. They followed a template which has become a tad bit predictable in the match by opting to bat first and then trying for a safe total. Scotland, though, has a strong batting lineup and was able to overpower the Netherlands bowlers with ease.

The Netherlands must be a little more adventurous with the bat in the final game otherwise they risk being blown away. Amongst their batsmen, only Visee showed some intent at the top and was able to score aggressively. His strike rate of 166.66 was the highest of all the batsmen which is not very encouraging for the Netherlands.

Warren Barresi anchored the inning with a sedate 53 from 51 balls and never really took a chance to get the Netherlands to an imposing total. Maybe the lack of confidence in the batsmen that were to follow had something to do with it but we believe it was Barresi’s innings that doomed the Netherlands in this match.

The Netherlands must hope for something special from O’Dowd, Cooper, or Visee in this match to give their batting a boost. Perhaps a move to send Tim van der Gugten up the order to swing his bat may not be such a bad idea either.

The Netherlands bowling was not of a very high quality either as they completely failed to have any impact on the opposition batsmen. 160 was a par total at best but the bowlers did have something respectable to defend.

Their lack of control and inability to pick wickets meant that the match was effectively over in the first six overs itself. The absence of Roelof van der Merwe from the playing eleven was a big disadvantage for the Netherlands and they will definitely be hoping to have him back for this crucial match.

The skipper Seelaar and van der Gugten will have to take the responsibility of leading the attack in van der Merwe’s absence.

Scotland

The current period of cricket that Scotland is playing is really among the best that it has ever played. There is a very strong set of core players and a management which believes in playing attacking cricket. All of these factors are fast making Scotland the best associate team going around and perhaps the next in line for elevation to the top tier. While that recognition may be in the future, of more immediate concern to Scotland will be to win this Tri-Nation series by beating the Netherlands.

Scotland’s strength is its batting and it showcased that for the second straight match. Its top-3 all scored above 40 for the second consecutive match and ensured that Scotland made short work of this target.

Munsey, Coetzer, and Berrington (who was promoted above MacLeod in this match) started off very aggressively and kept going hard at the Netherlands bowlers. Maybe having a player of the caliber of MacLeod down the order gave them the freedom to play this way.

We would like to see MacLeod back to his position at number three in the next match though because he is not a player whom you want to saddle with the responsibility of finishing matches. Let him play freely and he will set up more matches for the lower order.

Scotland also has Budge, Cross, and Leask further down the order and we can say with certainty that this batting unit is stronger than any other associate one. In fact, it could give a couple of test nations a run for their money.

Scotland has also unearthed a very potent death bowler in Safyaan Sharif. He defended 6 runs in the last match against Ireland in the last over and was once again frugal at the death against the Netherlands.

Evans and Sharif are the designated go-to bowlers in the death overs and they are going to be hard for the Netherlands batsmen to score off. With Leask, Watt, and the likes of Berrington to bowl a few overs, Scotland has a decent bowling line up as well.

Their bowling is the weaker of the two disciplines but it should be enough to keep the Netherlands batsmen in check. The only thing that Scotland needs to worry about is to make sure they don’t get complacent.