Captain Brendon McCullum led from the front with a fine 65 as New Zealand scored a comfortable six-wicket victory over the Netherlands in a ICC
World Twenty20 Super 10 match in Chittagong on Saturday.
The Kiwis chased down the target of 152 with one over to spare with Brendon McCullum anchoring the innings with a 45-ball knock that he made with the help of four boundaries and three sixes at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
New Zealand lost their opener Martin Guptill (9) cheaply in the fourth over but they were never in trouble as the inexperienced Dutch bowlers came up short.
Coming in at the crease when his side was 14 for one in the fourth over, McCullum, the world's most prolific scorer in Twenty20 Internationals, ensured that the Kiwis did not face any problem in their run chase.
When he was out in the 17th over, after sharing a 46-run stand with Corey Anderson (20 not out) for the unbroken fifth wicket, New Zealand were just 18 runs away from victory from 19 balls with six wickets in hand. Anderson took New Zealand score past the target by reaching 152 for four in 19 overs.
For the Netherlands, Timm van der Gugten grabbed three wickets for 30 runs, while Logan van Beek got one.
With Saturday's result, New Zealand are on four points from three matches with two wins and a defeat. The Netherlands are yet to open their account after playing three matches.
Earlier, Tom Cooper's unbeaten 40 off 23 balls lifted the Netherlands to 151 for four in their allotted 20 overs. Copper, who hit four boundaries and two sixes in his unbeaten knock, shared 60 runs for the fourth wicket with captain Peter Borren (49) after the Netherlands were put into bat.
The Netherlands were slow in their first 10 overs, scoring just 62 for two wickets, but accelerated in the second half of their innings. Openers Stephan Myburgh and Michael Swart contributed 16 and 26 respectively.
For New Zealand, Kyle Mills, Trent Boult, Nathan McCullum and Mitchell McClenaghan took a wicket each.
Image: Brendon McCullum of New Zealand hits out for six runs during the ICC World Twenty20 Group 1 match against the Netherlands at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong
Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
