INDIA beat NETHERLANDS by 95 runs and continue the winning streak

ICC 10th WOMEN's WORLD CUP - Match 10 – India v Netherlands at Leeds on 17 June 2026

Result – India beat Netherlands by 95 runs
Points – India 2(4), Netherlands 0(0)
Toss – Netherlands
Umpires – Claire Polosak, Sue Redfern, Jacqueline Williams (TV)
Player of the Match – Smriti Mandhana
Match Centre Link - You can view the scorecard, watch highlights and engage more at Match Centre of ICC. The match can be accessed here. 

INDIA INNINGS

NO TROUBLE
The 10^th match of the 10th Womens T20 World Cup featured India and Netherlands. India began the tournament with a win over Pakistan while Netherlands lost to Bangladesh in their debut match of World Cup. While Netherlands were not expected to challenge India, the match was expected to throw a spotlight on some great performers. Netherlands won the toss and invited India to bat. India happily accepted as they also needed to bat big and ensure their bowlers bowl out the opponent. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma opened the Indian batting while Iris Zwilling opened the bowling for the Dutch. Shafali Varma opened India’s boundaries most uncharacteristically with a delicate cut past the short third. Despite a couple of wides, Iris just gave 9 runs in the first over. Heather Siegers came in from the opposite end and Shafali more like her pulled a offish delivery over cover. The 5^th & 6^th balls of the over were a Smriti master class in placement of drives. She drove the 5^th one in the gap between cover and mid on and pierced the gap between cover and point in the 6^th ball. Iris came back well conceding only 3 in the 3^rd over. Isabel van der Woning was given the 4^th over and she ended up giving 3 boundaries and bowling 3 dots. Shafali didn’t meddle the 1^st ball bouncer well but still got a boundary. She cut the 4^th ball and lofted the 5^th ball, both on offside for boundaries. Iris conceded 10 in the 5^th over as Smriti played inside out and punched one back foot for a couple of boundaries. Myrthe van den Raad came to close the all pace power play. She began well inducing a top edge from Shafali and was lucky the next ball when Shafali missed a full toss. Shafali picked a single of the next ball. Myrthe however followed it up with a hattrick of wides, a lovely ball which Smriti couldn’t do anything, another hattrick of wides and two good length deliveries. Nonetheless the number of balls in the over was less than the number of runs with only 11 runs being scored of the 12 ball over. IND finished at 59 without loss in the power play and faced no serious trouble from the NET bowlers.

PROSE AND POETRY
Spin via Silver Siegers was introduced to find any silver linings in the dark cloud and she bowled rather well conceding only 8 runs which included a Smriti sweep boundary. Caroline De Lange who made heads turn in the last match was finally brought into action in the 8^th over. She started well conceding just 5 runs. Isabel came back for the 9^th over and her 4 dots were marred by 4 extras and 2 boundaries. When Caroline came in to bowl the 10^th over, Shafali unleashed 2 boundaries of the first 2 balls. But Caroline came back well to concede just 3 more in 4 balls. India were 96/0 after 10 overs. I wanted India to score a minimum of 200 and if possible better England’s landmark 219 scored in the first match of this World Cup. A set Smriti and Shafali, poetry and prose, in the lines of Vijay Merchant and Syed Mushtaq Ali, would ensure that the target is surpassed if they stay long enough. Myrthe was given the 11^th over and her widish ball coming round the wicket was cut by Shafali. The cut just bruised past a diving Frederique Overjdijk and brought Shafali Varma, the player with jersey number 17 a 50 in her 17^th T20 World Cup match. The fifty however took (17 x 2) 34 balls. Myrthe didn’t bowl a single extra this time but conceded a boundary to Shafali in the last ball as she gave enough room for Shafali to come out and cream one over covers. Heather Siegers came in to bowl the 12^th over and Smriti came down the wicket and hoisted her over mid on for a boundary in the first ball and a sixer in the second ball. Smriti took a quick single. Shafali didn’t power the fourth ball enough as she tried to pull it on the leg side and Iris Zwilling accepted the catch with so much glee. NET had their first wicket and Shafali departed for a 38 ball 55. Jemimah Rodrigues joined the crease and strode forward to drive a juicy half volley to boundary in her very first ball. Silver followed her sister Heather and just conceded 6 runs in the over, the last ball of which saw Smriti score her second 50 in two matches. Frederique became the 7^th NET bowler of the day and bowled well for just 6 runs in 5 balls before Jemi pulled a short one over midwicket for a boundary. Silver continued and after 2 dot balls, Smriti smeared four fours in a row. She lofted the first one over extra cover, played inside out for the second one, pulled the third one square in the leg side and slog swept the final one. Silver beat her sister Heather in the battle for most runs in an over as she gave 18 in the over. Caroline De Lange came in to bowl the 16^th over and after conceding a boundary to Smriti in the 3^rd ball had her prized wicket in the last ball when Smriti mistimed her loft over mid off and handed Iris her second catch of the day. At end of 16 overs, India were 162/2 and the possibility of 200 or 219 looked bright as Richa Ghosh joined Jemi in the middle.

A RICH FINISH
Myrthe stuck in her first ball of 17^th over as Jemi’s miscued scoop landed safely into the gloves of diving Babette de Leede. Yastika Bhatia joined Richa Ghosh and they were dealing in singles as Myrthe kept finding good lengths. Myrthe had Richa miscuing a flick of the leg side but Phebe Molkonboer dropped the sitter. Caroline De Lange came in to bowl the 18^th over and had Yastika out stumped first ball. Yastika danced down but missed the ball and Babette did the rest behind the stumps. For the second game in succession, Caroline was on a hatrick but Richa took an easy single and avoided the hatrick. Later Richa brought some cheer when she hit one over the bowlers head for a straight sixer. India were 177/4 with 12 balls to go. I was circumspect of 200 if not 219. Myrthe was back and Richa got a sixer and boundary of the penultimate over. India were 190/4 going into the last over. Iris who opened the bowling came to close it as well. Her first ball was a thick edge that sped its way to the boundary. A wide ball later, she had Harman miscuing one to mid off where Robine Rijke dropped a easy catch. Harman powered one straight over Robine’s head to score a boundary. In the 4^th ball, Harman once again tried to go past mid off but Robine made amends this time and held the catch properly. India were one run shy of 200 with 2 balls to go. Deepti Sharma very coolly flicked the 5^th ball over fine leg for a sixer. She gently pushed the next one strayed on the leg for a boundary. With 19 runs in the last over, Iris beat the Siegers sisters. I was expecting a Sehwag 219 from India but they did well to get to Sehwag 209. This was also India’s first 200 + score in the World Cup and the third 200+ score in a World Cup match. Thanks to Richa and Deepti, India had a rich finish. It was upto the bowlers to bowl out Ireland as early as possible.

NETHERLANDS INNINGS

CALLING THE SHOTS
Phebe Molkenboer and Heather Siegers opened the batting for NET. Kranti Goud was India’s opening bowler. NET started the chase with a 7 run over with Heather bringing the 1^st boundary of the 4^th ball. Heather and Phebe hit a boundary each in the second over bowled by Nandani. Kranti retuned in the 3^rd over and conceded just 2 runs. Surprisingly Shafali Varma was introduced as first change. Heather pulled her first ball perfectly for a boundary while Phebe drove one beautifully over the covers for a boundary in her last ball. Nandani started the 5^th over with a one that strayed on pads and Heather easily dispatched it to the deep midwicket for a boundary. Nandni’s second ball was bowled on line on the off side and Heather drove it ferociously but straight and fast to Smriti at cover who caught the ball after a juggle. Nandani got an early wicket on her World Cup debut. Shreyanka Patil came to bowl the last over of power play. She bowled a lovely ball and twisted her ankle while trying to field the ball. Her pain was evident and after examination, she was taken away from the ground. Shafali completed the over. NET finished powerplay at 39/1. India were calling the shots in the power play even as NET were putting up a good fight.

SPINNING IT OUR WAY
Sreecharani was given the 7^th over and Babette found her first boundary in the second ball when she went back foot and pulled the delivery over deep square leg for a boundary. Sreecharani just conceded 6 runs in the over. Deepti Sharma came in from the other end and her first ball was beautifully driven by Babette over cover for a boundary. Deepti stuck in the 3^rd ball when Phebe trying to hoist her over the off side found Jemi at mid off. Sterre Kallis joined the skipper and opened her account with a brilliant drive over which eluded three fielders to reach the boundary. Sreecharani was once again effective and economical giving away just 5 runs in the 9^th over. Deepti’s 10^th over will be remembered for 9.4 where Sterre produced the shot of the match, a brilliant square cut that raced past the infielders to the boundary ropes. At the half way mark, NET were 68/2. They werent chasing the target but making a statement by playing some good shots. Kranti and pace returned in the 11^th over and the batters had a boundary each in the 9 run over. India finally broke the budding partnership when Shafali’s straighter one induced a bottom edge and crashed on the stumps. Robine Rijke was the new batter and she reverse swept Shafali for a four in the same over. Kranti came back to finish her quota. Her 13^th over fetched NET 9 runs and IND would be ruing a drop by Sreecharani where skipper Babette was the beneficiary. Six balls later, Nandani got the NET skipper. She slowed down the ball on seeing Babette coming down and Richa stumped in a flash. Sreecharani came in to bowl the 15^th over and claimed Robine plumb before the wicket in the first ball. Frederique Overdijk got a lucky edge in the over that went for a boundary. In the next over bowled by Deepti, both Iris Zwilling and Frederique kept finding singles before Iris came down the wicket to smash one wide of long on for an authorative boundary. With the final four death overs due, NET were 113/5. I wanted India to bowl out the opposition and win by a margin of at least 80 runs. While the spinners exercised good control, the wickets were eluding them.

FIVE WICKETS FOR ONE RUN
Sreecharani came to finish her quota and nearly finished the match. In her first ball, Frederique went for the slog and offered a simple catch to Smriti at long on. The very next ball, she induced a faint edge of Myrthe van den Raad. Silver Siegers came in to face the hatrick ball and eluded the hatrick with a single to long on. She didn’t allow Iris to score of the 4^th & 5^th balls. Iris went for a sweep in the last ball but the ball went straight to deep midwicket where Jemi pouched it happily. Shafali continued from other end and had Silver stumped by Richa in the first ball. The umpire took her own sweet time to raise her hand and Silver didn’t even review. A dot ball later, Isabel van der Woning slogged one on the leg side and Jemi ran in to take a good catch. In a matter of 8 balls, NET imploded from 113/5 to 114 all out. India had managed to bowl out the opposition and won the match by 95 runs.