For the second time on tour at the same Voorburg CC venue, USA went from overwhelming favorite to incomprehensible runner-up against the Netherlands, whose spinners stifled USA's chase to hold off USA by four runs. 

Photo Credit: European Cricket Network YouTube Channel

By Peter Della Penna (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)
 
At 75 for 2 after nine overs chasing a target of 133, USA looked on course for their first ever victory against the Netherlands at senior international level. But USA managed to conjured up a reprise of the collapse they had at the same Voorburg CC venue in the ODI fixture between the two sides on August 13 as they were bowled out in the final over for 128 to lose by four runs in the final T20I of the Netherlands tri-series in the Hague. 
 
It was the Dutch spinners who turned the tide for the home side as Aryan Dutt sparked a dramatic turnaround with a double-wicket over in the 10^th on the way to finishing with figures of 3 for 22. Daniel Doram, Zach Lion-Cachet and Max O’Dowd shared four wickets to make it seven from the slow bowlers before the pace combo of Kyle Klein and Paul van Meekeren came back at the death to finish off USA for good. 
 
USA started off the chase in relatively comfortable fashion, though their biggest partnership in the end wound up being just 29 runs for the third wicket. Monank Patel made 12 before he was bowled trying to back away to the leg side going inside out with a drive against Kyle Klein only to slice an edge onto middle stump making it 20 for 1 in the third. Sai Mukkamalla followed up his T20I debut half-century with 24 off 16 balls before he miscued a drive off of Doram’s left-arm spin and picked out O’Dowd at mid-off to make it 46 for 2 in the sixth. 
 
Aaron Jones and Andries Gous then teamed up to take USA to a commanding position after nine overs, with USA needing well under a run a ball the rest of the way. But after bowling two wicketless overs with the new ball, Dutt was brought back for his offspin again in the 10^th and wreaked havoc on USA with a double-wicket maiden by using an around the wicket angle to right-handers, beating Jones with the first ball of the over on an attempted sweep to bowl USA’s vice-captain for 13. Nitish Kumar then fell for a third-ball duck trying to flick through midwicket off the back foot only to see his stumps rattled making it 75 for 4. 
 
Shayan Jahangir’s 3 off 10 balls further highlighted the panic that quickly sprouted in USA’s middle order as he eventually fell by playing back to Doram and was struck in front of the stumps to be given lbw making it 81 for 5 in the 12^th. Harmeet Singh fell two overs later for 6, spooning a drive off the toe of the bat to long-on where Noah Croes lunged forward to hold onto a catch for a wicket to O’Dowd’s part-time spin. 
 
Netherlands then struck a hammer blow in the following over. One ball after heaving a half-tracker from Lion-Cachet over midwicket for six, a similar length delivery turned in sharply and skidded low to trap Gous on the back leg right in front of middle stump for 43 making the score 107 for 7. 
 
USA still only needed 26 off 33 deliveries, but only had the tail left to get them across the line as Netherlands heaped more pressure on in the field by keeping a slip in place for Dutt’s final over in the 16^th. Staying around the wicket to Shadley van Schalkwyk, Dutt breached the bat pad gap on an attempted push down the ground and bowled van Schalkwyk for 5 to make it 111 for 8. 
 
USA looked like they had briefly regained momentum after Doram conceded 11 off his final over in the 18^th, including a full toss belted over square leg for six by Jessy Singh. But starting the 19^th over at the non-striker’s end with USA needing seven to win off 12 balls, Singh suddenly became very hesitant and turned down a clear single on the first ball before another dot on the following delivery to Nosthush Kenjige. On the third ball of the 19^th bowled by Klein, Kenjige pushed for a suicide single to mid-on but Vikramjit’s throw at the non-striker’s stumps from 10 yards away went wide to allow a single. On the fourth ball, Singh inside edged a length ball from Klein onto his pads before a carom went to backward point as Klein belted out an lbw shout. Preoccupied with the umpire’s decision, Singh began to set off from his crease while Kenjige rightly sent him back from the non-striker’s end. But it was too late as Lion-Cachet pounced on the ball charging in from backward point and underhanded into the striker’s end stumps with Singh two yards out to fall for 12. 
 
USA could end the match with one shot as just six runs were needed to win, but the Dutch now needed just one more wicket to secure a victory of their own. Last man Yasir Mohammad defended the first ball he faced before driving a single off the last ball of the 19^th, resulting in him being on strike for the start of the final over to be bowled by van Meekeren. Coming around the wicket to the left-handed Mohammad, a full delivery angled in defeated Mohammad’s drive and bowled him for 1 to clinch victory for the home side and ensure their perfect record against the USA men’s side remained intact. Kenjige was stranded on 6 not out in the end. 
 
Dutt left with Player of the Match honors for his three-wicket spell while Doram ended with 2 for 30 in his four overs. O’Dowd bowled an extremely crucial three-over spell to finish with 1 for 9 while Lion-Cachet was expensive to return 1 for 30 in three overs but claimed the vital wicket of Gous. Klein ended with 1 for 30 in four while van Meekeren’s 1 for 5 came in just 1.1 overs. 
 
The USA collapse meant that Harmeet’s outstanding bowling effort went to waste on a day in which he claimed 3 for 8 off his four overs of left-arm spin and also contributed to a runout off his own bowling during a sequence which appeared to have put USA in a position to claim victory.
 
Mohammad came back into the USA XI in place of Juanoy Drysdale and played a part in the first wicket of the day. One over after Michael Levitt had been dropped by Kenjige off his own bowling, the Dutch opener top-edged a pull off Jessy Singh and Mohammad held onto a simple catch at midwicket in the ring for 8 to make it 20 for 1. Vikramjit scored a brisk 14 before he fell to van Schalkwyk in the fifth, flicking a low full toss to Monank at midwicket in the ring making it 43 for 2. Mohammad then claimed O’Dowd for 27 with a flighted full delivery to encourage a drive straight into the hands of Monank at extra cover making it 60 for 3 in the ninth. 
 
Harmeet then ripped through the Dutch middle order in the 12^th, first claiming captain Scott Edwards at the start of the over on an attempted cut shot edged behind for 10. Dutt’s first ball at the crease was guided to backward point and he stayed put while Lion-Cachet called him through for a single. Dutt belatedly set off but it was too late to beat Mukkamalla’s relay to Harmeet at the bowler’s end to result in a first-ball duck for Dutt. Lion-Cachet then walked past a delivery three balls later to result in a simple stumping for 6 by Gous making it 72 for 6. Harmeet completed his haul in the 14^th over, getting Noah Croes for 2 on a failed reverse sweep to make it 79 for 7. 
 
The Klein brothers, Ryan and Kyle, then combined for the largest partnership of the match by adding an extremely valuable 35 runs in the space of 4.5 overs. The stand was broken when Kyle was bowled for 16 by a yorker from Jessy Singh two balls into the 19^th. But Ryan remained and added another 18 across the final 10 balls with van Meekeren. The biggest shot of all in that end of innings sequence came on the final ball of the Netherlands innings. After five good deliveries from van Schalkwyk resulted in five singles, the medium pacer missed his length and was driven for six by Ryan over mid-off. It was a shot that ultimately provided the Dutch with their winning margin and took Ryan to 36 not out off 25 deliveries while van Meekeren ended in 5 not out off 5 balls. 
 
Aside from Harmeet’s figures, Jessy claimed 2 for 23 in four overs. Mohammad was soild in finishing with 1 for 22 from his four overs while van Schalkwyk ended with 1 for 27 in three. Kenjige conceded 0 for 33 in his four overs while Jones was USA’s least economical bowler on the day, giving away 12 runs in his only over bowled in the 16^th when the Klein brothers were together in the middle as each one struck him for a boundary. 
 
USA’s next scheduled international activity is their ICC Cricket World Cup League Two ODI tri-series tour of Namibia. USA is due to play both Namibia and the United Arab Emirates in two ODIs each beginning September 16 at Windhoek. A T20I tri-series between all three sides is expected to follow before USA returns home to host Nepal and Scotland in their first home tri-series of the current Cricket World Cup League Two cycle. USA Cricket has yet to announce a venue for the series despite the scheduled start coming in less than six weeks.