International Cricket

NED Tour ZIM 1st ODI Bulawayo: Bas de Leede All-Round Recap

Vikram Joshi 19 May 2026 Updated 19 May 2026 ~5 min read ~874 words

Bas de Leede playing a cover drive at Queens Sports Club Bulawayo for Netherlands

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Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, on May 19 wasn't a high-scoring affair, and that suited the Netherlands. Bas de Leede's 71 off 78 anchored a Dutch 248 for 8, and his 3 for 44 in nine overs broke a Zimbabwe rebuild that had reached 154 for 3 in the 32nd over. The Netherlands won by 25 runs, their first ODI win on Zimbabwean soil since 2023, and de Leede was the obvious player of the match in a game where the slow Bulawayo strip rewarded sensible cricket and punished the cover-drive against the slope.

De Leede's 71, the rebuild innings

Netherlands had been 64 for 3 inside 14 overs when de Leede came in at number five. Vikramjit Singh edged Richard Ngarava to second slip, Max O'Dowd was bowled by a Tendai Chatara nip-backer, and Wesley Barresi top-edged a pull to fine leg. De Leede's entry was conservative for 22 balls, taking five runs from those, and then the gear shift came after the drinks break. His 50 came in 58 balls. He added 86 with Scott Edwards in 17 overs and the partnership played the percentages: 9 fours, two sixes (both over wide long-on against Sikandar Raza), and a running game between the wickets that exploited Zimbabwe's slower fielders at deep square and deep mid-wicket. The dot percentage during the partnership was 51, par for the surface, and the running converted 12 ones into twos. De Leede was eventually bowled by Blessing Muzarabani in the 41st over for 71, with the score at 200 for 5.

Zimbabwe's middle-overs collapse, the pattern

Zimbabwe started the chase at 88 for 1 after the power play, with Tadiwanashe Marumani caught behind off Logan van Beek in the 9th over and openers and Brian Bennett looking comfortable. The collapse came between overs 26 and 38: 4 for 51 with the spinners squeezing in straight-on lines and the slower seamers offering nothing to drive. Sean Williams (32 off 41), Sikandar Raza (18 off 22), and Brendan Taylor (24 off 33, run-out backing up at the bowler's end) all fell in this window. The required rate had been 5.6 at the start, and by the 38th over it was 7.4. The middle-order pattern has been a Zimbabwe problem all calendar year. They have collapsed for 60 or fewer between overs 21 and 35 in five of their last eight 50-over games.

De Leede's bowling, the wickets in detail

His nine-over spell was split. The first three came in the power play, where he took the wicket of Marumani's opening partner Wessly Madhevere with a wide swinging delivery that nipped back into the right-hander. He then returned in the 28th over and took two in his second spell: Sikandar Raza, edging a back-of-a-length cross-seam delivery to first slip, and Brendan Taylor a run-out off his own bowling deflection. The pace held at 124-127 kph through the spell, which is at the lower end of his band, but the seam presentation was upright and the off-stump line consistent. Captain Scott Edwards used him in three-over bursts.

The series ahead, what to watch

Netherlands lead 1-0 in a three-match series and the second ODI is at the same venue on Thursday May 21. Queens Sports Club is forecast to be slightly drier on Thursday, the Bulawayo afternoon high climbing to 26 degrees, and the strip should play marginally better for batting in the second innings. Captain Craig Ervine will need a top-order rebuild question answered. Brian Bennett at three is a candidate for promotion to opener if Marumani is moved down. The Netherlands shape is settled and de Leede's match-winner role is now confirmed across all three formats.

What it means

Two things stand out. First, the Netherlands have a genuine number-four-or-five Test-match all-rounder shape in de Leede, and this is a credible WCL Super League and 50-over World Cup qualifier asset. Second, Zimbabwe's middle-overs problem is structural, and the next Test cycle and one-day plans both run through fixing it. Watch the Thursday team-sheet for Zimbabwe. A captain decision is coming.