Max O'Dowd, Vivian Kingma guide Netherlands to 15-run win in first ODI against Scotland

Opening batsman Max O'Dowd (82) and medium-pacer Vivian Kingma (3/21) starred for the Netherlands in their win against Scotland on Wednesday evening.

The rain gods compelled the organizers to reduce the game to 33-overs-a-side. Max O'Dowd smashed a brilliant half-century at the top to take the home team to 163/8 in Rotterdam.

Chasing 164, the visitors lost wickets at regular intervals. Despite Richie Berrington's 41-run knock, the Scots fell short by 14 runs in the second innings. With this win, the Dutch have taken a 1-0 lead in the 2-match ODI series.

Brief Scores: Netherlands 163/8 (Max O'Dowd 82, Logan van Beek 24; Gavin Main 2/16, Mark Watt 2/28) beat Scotland 149/8 (Richie Berrington 41, George Munsey 27; Vivian Kingma 3/21, Paul van Meekeren 2/28) by 14 runs.

---

The Max O'Dowd show took the Netherlands past 150

Max O'Dowd played a match-winning knock for his country.

The pitch at Hazelaarweg Stadion has never been easy for batting. The continuous rainfall in the morning made sure that the outfield in Rotterdam was not the fastest. Max O'Dowd still managed to bring his 'A' game to the table and dominated the Scot bowlers.

None of the other Dutch batters could touch the 25-run mark, but Max O'Dowd aggregated 82 runs off 102 deliveries and guided his team to 163/8. O' Dowd hit five fours and a six in his innings. He received support from number-eight batsman Logan van Beek, who scored a 21-ball knock of 24 runs.

The likes of Stephan Myburgh (7), Pieter Seelaar (0) and Ben Cooper (10) could not get going in the middle. Fast bowler Gavin Main bowled a top-quality spell of 2/16 in seven overs while his teammate Mark Watt (2/28) also took two wickets. Alasdair Evans (1/24), Safyaan Sharif (1/41) and Hamza Tahir (1/34) dismissed a Dutch player each.

Vivian Kingma provided an excellent start to the home side in the second innings. He picked up the wickets of Matthew Cross (1) and Scot skipper Kyle Coetzer (9) in the powerplay. Paul van Meekeran (2/28) then rattled the stumps of Callum MacLeod.

Richie Berrington (41) tried to build a partnership with George Munsey (27). However, both batters fell soon after the team crossed the 100-run mark. Mark Watt (15), Safyaan Sharif (14) and Gavin Main (13*) took the team's total close to the target, but the Scots ended at 149/8 in their 33 overs.

🎉 Netherlands won the first match of the series by 14 runs! Netherlands 163/8 (33)Scotland 149/8 (33)On to the next one @CricketScotland, thanks for the close match!#NEDSCO #SupportOrange #CricketNL pic.twitter.com/n1HinBXF0r

— Cricket🏏Netherlands (@KNCBcricket) May 19, 2021