International Cricket

Vivian Kingma Seam Data 2026 Netherlands Tactical Decoded

Karthik Menon 19 May 2026 Updated 19 May 2026 ~4 min read ~652 words

Vivian Kingma in his delivery stride bowling new-ball seam for the Netherlands

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Vivian Kingma is the Netherlands' senior pacer and has 38 ODI wickets at 31.4 across the last three years, with a new-ball strike-rate that compares favourably with mid-tier Test-nation pacers. The 2026 WCL2 cycle has put him at the centre of the Dutch bowling attack as Logan van Beek manages his workload across the IPL and county circuit. This piece pulls Kingma's new-ball seam data, the second-spell value the management has been quietly mapping, and how the role fits into Bas de Leede's captaincy template.

New-ball seam data and the in-swing template

Kingma bowls at 132-136 kph with a tight wrist position behind the seam, generating an average 1.6 degrees of in-swing into right-handers. The new-ball template is to attack the top of off-stump with the in-swinger, then occasionally release the away-going seamer to take the outside edge. The wicket-pattern data shows 56% of his dismissals come in overs 1-6, with caught-behind and LBW accounting for 41% of those modes. The in-swing threat works particularly against right-handers who play across the line on the front foot — the dismissal is invariably an LBW with the ball pitching off-stump and hitting middle.

Second-spell value and the bowling-change pattern

Kingma's second-spell economy in ODIs is 4.8, with the wicket-rate dropping to one every 64 deliveries. The numbers say the second spell is more containment than threat, but the second-spell wickets that do come tend to be top-order batters — 7 of his last 9 second-spell ODI wickets were against players in positions 1-4. The bowling-change pattern de Leede uses with Kingma is to bring him back for the death overs in the 47-49 window, where the cross-seam ball has produced 4 wickets in the last 6 ODIs at the role.

Match-up data and the Associate-cricket context

Kingma's match-up data favours the WCL2 opponents the Netherlands face most often. His economy against the typical Associate-nation top order — Namibia, Nepal, USA — sits at 4.2, with the swing assistance the new ball provides being the deciding factor. Against the Test-nation top orders (England, India, South Africa) when the Netherlands play full-member opposition, his economy climbs to 5.6 but his strike-rate stays steady at one every 38 deliveries. The data says he is a wicket-taker against any opposition, but the run-rate against the elite teams is the cost.

What it means

Kingma is the new-ball strike threat the Netherlands lean on through the WCL2 cycle, with the second-spell value providing useful insurance. Watch the upcoming Pakistan A series — if Kingma can take 6-8 wickets at sub-25 across the matches, the WCL2 case has been validated. The longer-term test is workload tolerance heading into the 2027 ICC qualifying tournament, where the Netherlands will need him to bowl 9-10 over allocations in back-to-back matches.