Dutchman Bas de Leede celebrates his half-century (right) and a portrait of Tim de Leede (left) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. (PTI photo) At the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, a portrait of Tim de Leede, Bas de Leede’s father, hangs just outside the press box. Like Bas de Leede, Tim de Leede also played for the Netherlands and represented the Dutch in 29 One Day Internationals (ODIs). Tim’s first international wicket came in the 2003 World Cup when he dismissed legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar. So cricket runs deep in the Leede family and Tim’s portrait in the Cauldron makes it a special place for the family. Bas de Leede produced a special performance at the same venue on Tuesday, showing his all-round prowess as he led the Netherlands to a seven-wicket win over Namibia as the Dutch registered their first World T20 win after falling narrowly behind against Pakistan in the tournament opener on February 7. However, it wasn’t such a big dowry for Bas de Leede last time he played in Delhi. The Netherlands faced Australia in a group stage match of the 2023 ODI World Cup and the Flying Dutchmen were battered all over the country as Pat Cummins’ side scored 399 in the first innings. Bas de Leede made an unwanted record of giving away most runs in an innings in ODIs. In his quota of 10 overs, he was hit for 115 runs by the Australians at an economy of 11.50. “To be honest, it’s obviously a record that nobody wants, but I wasn’t too worried about it and it wasn’t on my mind today. I’m pretty — yeah, pretty forgetful when it comes to performances, so it’s nice to have a good performance today,” Ledde said when asked about the 2023 game Tuesday after the game.The Netherlands were bowled out for just 90 in their chase of 399 to lose the match by 309 runs and it was a forgettable outing for the Dutch and Leede.On Tuesday, Leede turned things around for himself and his team as he played an unbeaten knock of 72 off 48 balls in Holland’s chase of 157. Leede hit 5 boundaries and four sixes in his innings and ensured there were no hiccups in the Dutch chase as they reached the target with 12 balls to spare. Earlier, Leede played a significant role with the ball as well, restricting Namibia to 156 in the first innings. He took two wickets in his three overs, conceding only 20 runs. He took the wickets of Namibian captain Gerhard Erasmus (18 off 9) and JJ Smit (22 off 15 balls), the only Namibian batsmen to score over 140 in an innings.In the 2023 ODI World Cup match against Australia, the Netherlands were bowled out for just 90 in their chase of 399 to lose the match by 309 runs, and it was a memorable outing for the Dutch and Leede. But against Namibia, Leede made sure it was a day to remember in Delhi for the Dutch. “Obviously coming from a cricketing family in the Netherlands, to be able to perform and hopefully make my family proud is really special,” Leede said in his post-match press conference.
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