The Tri-Nations series in the Netherlands continues on Wednesday when the host nation are back on show for their third game of the four they will play when they go up against Scotland for the second time this week.
The Netherlands have a win and a loss on their ledger in the event while Scotland have a defeat and a washout so if the away side want to win the tournament they have to win here, although preparation for the T20 World Cup is the main order of the day.
Netherlands
This has been a bit of a weird competition for the Netherlands so far. They have gone pretty well with the ball throughout it so far, which is a surprise when you consider they are without some leading county bowlers who would most definitely improve them were they to be available, but they have flattered to deceive with the bat, albeit they are missing players in their middle order who would be staple diets of this side were they to be available.
If the Netherlands can continue to bowl like they have been doing both for the remainder of this week and also for the upcoming World Cup then they are likely to cause a few problems for some bigger teams but their success or otherwise will depend on whether they can find a middle order that will churn out runs against quality spin. This tournament probably isn’t going to help them with that but that is very much the task at hand.
Scotland
This tournament hasn’t really got going for Scotland after a poor performance in their opening match and then a washout in their second one but they will be eager to finish off this campaign well and build up a bit of a head of steam heading towards the World Cup where they face the last two champions in a very tough group. They could probably be forgiven for needing the run in their opening match and certainly weren’t helped with a washout but they can be judged properly here.
In that opening game Scotland never got going with the bat at all and they are going to need to perform better in that department. When you look at their side on paper it doesn’t look terrible but if they get off to a slow start like they did in that game then it is a long way back from there. Like a lot of Associate sides, they find bowling at the end of the innings a bit of a difficult situation too, not helped by the absence of their own star county bowlers.
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Team News
We saw Bas de Leede in the side for the second match for the Dutch last week but we are still waiting for the appearance of Fred Klaassen, who is expected to feature before the World Cup comes along. That could see him play here.
It wasn’t declared why Scotland left George Munsey out of their ranks in the first game between these two sides but assuming it wasn’t injury related then you would imagine he’ll be straight back into the side here.
Betting
There has been a fair bit of rain around The Hague in the last few days so I wouldn’t be surprised if the wicket isn’t amazing for this match. The Netherlands isn’t a part of the world where there is plenty of money to help make the conditions great at short notice but given that both teams will want to get onto the park and play a game ahead of the T20 World Cup we might be a bit of a sticky match in testing conditions.
The first match between these two was a low scoring one anyway apart from a blitz in the last few overs by one of the Dutch players. That match eventually had 293 runs in it but for a large part of the contest the first innings looked like it wouldn’t get anywhere near 150. I think both of these sides bowl better than they bat and in conditions where the ball might just do a bit, at least first up even if it isn’t for the entire game, that could see the run scoring stay below 296.5 runs.
Tips
Back Under 296.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
