Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): South African-born Sybrand Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek led an exceptional recovery with maiden half-centuries to help the Netherlands post a respectable total of 262 against Sri Lanka in the league stage fixture of the World Cup here on Saturday.
The 35-year-old Sybrand Engelbrecht, who played a gritty inning of 70 off 82 balls had retired from all forms of cricket for South Africa after playing for Cape Cobras in 2016 before qualifying to play for Netherlands. It was the highest partnership for seventh wicket or below in World Cups. They broke the record held by Kapil Dev and Syed Kirmani, who had added 126 runs not out for the seventh wicket against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells in the 1918 World Cup.
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Engelbrecht, who came in at No seven, hit a six and four fours in his knock and shared a 130-run partnership with Van Beek, who also secured a maiden fifty (59 off 75 balls) as they turned the tide for the Dutch after they were reeling at 91 for six in the 22nd over.
Kasun Rajitha, who made a comeback in playing eleven after getting dropped, and fellow teammate in-form left-arm pacer Dilshan Madushanka picked four-fors, were the pick of Lankan bowlers but they lacked support from Sri Lankan spinners. In the 2008 U-19 triumph between India vs South Africa, Engelbrecht, who was playing in Proteas colors took a flying catch to dismiss Virat Kohli.
Playing top-tier cricket did not seem realistic for Engelbrecht as he slipped into oblivion while pursuing his MBA. But he picked the bat again after his family moved to the Netherlands in 2021, and head coach Ryan Cook gave him an ODI debut against New Zealand in the World Cup.
Engelbrecht's moment of reckoning came here when he led a stunning recovery using his wealth of experience. In a clash between the two bottom-rung teams, Sri Lanka, in search of their first win in the tournament, held the upper hand by reducing the Netherlands to 91/6. Engelbrecht, however, under pressure took charge of the proceedings, taking the spin duo of Dushan Hemantha and Dhananjay de Silva to the cleaners in the middle overs.
Sri Lanka let the game slip away from their grasp by not bringing back their pace duo of Madushanka and Rajitha, who returned as late as the 40th over. Earlier, the Lankan pace duo built up pressure by dismissing the Dutch top-three quickly.
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