MACRAE: NETHERLANDS ARE WINNING HEARTS AROUND THE WORLD
Media release
Netherlands head coach Neil MacRae believes his players have won “hearts around the world” after a spirited first ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
The Netherlands play their final Group A game against Pakistan in Bristol on Saturday and are targeting their first win to sign off their tournament debut in style.
MacRae’s team are ranked 14th in the world, the lowest of all the teams competing in England, but have held their own in a tough group that also contains the heavyweight trio Australia, India and South Africa.
They started with a six-wicket defeat to Bangladesh and 95-run loss to India but resisted Australia’s bowling in their third match – losing just three wickets in defeat – and again showed resilience against South Africa.
MacRae, who is leaving his post in August, said: “I think what got us to this tournament was a group of girls who had a dream to play in a World Cup, who were homegrown in the Netherlands, who were amateur cricketers apart from Sterre Kalis and Babette de Leede and who were prepared to sacrifice anything to train as much as they could to get here.
“That spirit and togetherness that they needed to show to get here has come through I think in every performance on the field.
“I thought last night's fielding was outstanding against a strong South Africa batting team on a very flat wicket.
“I think a couple of batting partnerships, two youngsters, 21-year-olds, Phebe Molkenboer and Sanya Khurana, coming out and getting 50 off the powerplay with the crowd going wild every time they struck a boundary.
“And then Babette de Leede having scored two 50s along with Sterre Kalis putting on a partnership against Australia where for 10 overs they batted beautifully and were certainly holding par with them. Those have been standout moments.
“We're not going to win this tournament but I think we'll win a lot of hearts around the world.
The way we played cricket, the way the girls have been brave enough to take their brand of cricket onto a world stage and certainly the connection along with the supporters.
“Everybody's had a package from Netherlands cricket that's really lit up this tournament.
Meanwhile, Pakistan bowling coach Umaid Asif believes a failure to execute in key moments has undone good work in each of their matches at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Pakistan have also lost all four of their games so far and Asif admits their batting has struggled, with scores of 106, 126, 100 and 86, leading to four successive defeats.
No Pakistan player has scored more than 100 runs in the tournament so far, while captain Fatima Sana is the only player one to pass 50.
Asif insists Pakistan pack sufficient talent but their early exit means they will go back to the drawing board ahead of hosting the next T20 World Cup in 2028.
“I think we are a very good team, to be honest,” he said.
“We did really work hard for the last five months for this tournament. We did well in patches.
“We couldn't execute the whole plan as a whole, you know, for the whole game, throughout the game.
“We did at times— we did well in bowling, we did well in fielding. But batting is the main concern. We got starts, but we couldn't capitalise.”
That was most apparent against India in their opening game, where Pakistan were set 171 to win at Edgbaston.
Muneeba Ali hit five fours in a strong start to the run chase but her dismissal for 41 prompted a batting collapse and they fell from 75 for three to 106 all out.
“I think it was the mindset mostly,” Asif added.
“The execution depends on your mindset. You go into the game with the plans, but you look at the situation and how you have to apply yourself. But that's the main concern we have, that the batting couldn't do this.
“We have our next game against Netherlands, and we'll try to win it and then go back and analyse everything. 100%."