india vs netherlands: Dube powers India to 17-run win as hosts finish group stage unbeaten
Shivam Dube's blistering 66 off 31 balls and a tight middle-overs spell from Varun Chakravarthy propelled the hosts to a 17-run victory over the Netherlands in Ahmedabad, allowing India to finish Group A unbeaten. The match featured a rare low for India's Abhishek Sharma — dismissed for a duck again — but the home side's depth with bat and ball proved decisive.
Dube turns the innings after early setbacks
India elected to bat and began poorly as the top order struggled to find momentum. Abhishek Sharma was trapped early, facing only three balls before being dismissed by Aryan Dutt, a dismissal that left Sharma with a third successive duck in the tournament. That unwanted sequence made headlines, but the collapse did not define the innings.
Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav steadied the innings with useful contributions of 31 and 34 respectively, while Hardik Pandya added a quickfire 30. The real acceleration came with Shivam Dube at the crease. Dube smashed 66 from 31 deliveries, striking four fours and six sixes and racing to his fifty off 25 balls. His explosive partnership with Pandya swung the momentum back to the hosts and took India to a competitive 193 for 6 in their 20 overs.
Logan van Beek and Aryan Dutt provided the Netherlands with early breakthroughs and picked up wickets, but they proved unable to contain Dube's power-hitting once he settled. Van Beek finished with three wickets, while Dutt made an early impact with the new ball.
Spinners and Dube halt the Dutch chase
The Netherlands began their reply with intent, but the hosts' bowling attack struck at key moments. Varun Chakravarthy delivered a match-defining spell, claiming 3 for 14 in his three overs and choking the Dutch scoring through the middle overs. Chakravarthy also removed a Dutch pacer for a duck, turning the tide in India’s favour.
Bas de Leede top-scored for the visitors with 33 from 23 balls, while Michael Levitt and Max O'Dowd found starts but could not convert them into sustained scoring. Late hitting from Zach Lion-Cachet and Noah Croes kept the chase alive, with Croes finishing unbeaten, but they never got within touching distance of the target. Dube chipped in with the ball as well, taking two wickets and finishing with figures that underlined his value as an all-round contributor.
The Netherlands were eventually restricted to 176 for 7, leaving India with a 17-run margin of victory. The result confirmed India's dominance in the group and highlighted the effectiveness of their spin arsenal and power-hitting lower down the order.
Implications and takeaways
The win completes a perfect group stage for the hosts, who claimed four wins from four matches to advance to the Super 8s unbeaten. The team also extended a strong streak in T20 World Cups, maintaining momentum built across recent editions.
Individually, Abhishek Sharma faces a testing run of form after registering a third straight duck at the tournament — a unique and unwelcome milestone early in his World Cup appearances. Yet the match underlined the squad's depth: when early wickets fell, middle and lower-order hitters and a potent spin mix recovered the innings and controlled the chase.
For the Netherlands, the loss underlined the challenge of mounting a chase against a balanced attack in pressure conditions. Their batting showed flashes of fight, but the middle overs proved costly as tight spin bowling choked partnerships and momentum.
India now head into the Super 8s with confidence, having shown the ability to absorb early setbacks and produce match-winning performances from multiple players. The hosts will look to carry this form forward as the tournament shifts into its next phase.
