"Build the man a statue": Netherlands captain Scott Edwards heaps praise on 'unbelievable' Bas de Leede
Jul 06, 2023
Harare [Zimbabwe], July 6 : Netherlands captain Scott Edwards believes all-rounder Bas de Leede deserved to be immortalised in a monument after his magnificent all-round performance helped Dutch punch their tickets to India for ICC ODI Cricket World Cup.
Bas de Leede produced a dazzling first-ever ODI ton to fire the Netherlands to the World Cup 2023 with a dramatic four-wicket victory over Scotland.
De Leede starred with bat and ball, picking up a first ODI five-for before smashing 123 with the bat to haul the Netherlands home and punch their tickets to India later this year.
"(On Bas de Leede) Build the man a statue. That was an unbelievable game. Hard to find a better performance in ODI cricket in a long time. He's an unbelievable player. Everyone is aware of that. It's not the first time he's done it and it won't be the last," Scott Edwards said at the post-match presentation.
The 23-year-old's 123 comprised seven fours and five sixes, two of which carried him to his century, and his 113-run fifth-wicket stand with Saqib Zulfiqar (33no) was essential to the victory.
"Extremely (happy). Lost for words. We thought that the WI game was a bit on the heart but in the last 20 overs there, what Saqib and Bas did was next level. It was unbelievable to watch. This group is just excellent. We are with each other day in and day out in the Netherlands," Edwards said.
Victory had looked unlikely at various points throughout the match for the Dutch, who knew they had to chase their target of 278 in just 44 overs owing to Scotland's superior net run rate.
"We put in the hard work. We were confident. We had different match-winners. Pretty awesome feeling. From looking at the wicket at the start, probably not. It seemed like it was a good wicket. Got a bit tricky in the last 30 overs, unbelievable batting by Bas and Saqib at the end. We had the belief the whole way through. Cooky brought the batting group together at the halfway point - the whiteboard had 140 at 26 overs, and we were maybe 15-20 behind. We knew what we wanted to do. We needed a couple of batters to cash in at the back end," Edwards said.
