A destructive 62* from Babette de Leede lifted the Netherlands to victory in the fourth T20I against Ireland.
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The series may have already been decided but the Dutch, off the back of de Leede's Player of the Match performance, secured match four with nine balls to spare.
De Leede's second T20I fifty also passed her previous highest score of an even 50, also against Ireland, thumping eight fours and two sixes in a 35-ball stay.
Babette de Leede is the player of the match as Netherlands win the last match of the series 👏
— ICC (@ICC) July 30, 2021
📸 @KNCBcricket #IREvNED pic.twitter.com/ERtEwN1Bqc
Dutch skipper Heather Siegers won the toss and elected to field, with rain interrupting in Malahide, shaving five overs off each innings.
Despite claiming the early wicket of Gaby Lewis (6), the Irish looked to hold a firm grip on the match through the partnership of Rebecca Stokell and Laura Delany.
The pair would bat together for the rest of the innings, though the Dutch kept their adversaries at bay, with opener Eva Lynch finishing with 1/21 from her four overs. Stoppages interrupted Ireland's innings, and their total of 101/2 became a target of 118 after the DLS adjustment. Stokell finished with 48 (43) after being caught behind off the last ball of the innings, with Delany finishing on 39 not out.
Despite resting many players after already securing a series victory in the previous encounter, Ireland were on the hunt with the ball, taking two wickets in the first two overs. Sophie MacMahon and Celeste Raack removed Iris Zwilling and Heather Siegers, though the happiness was rather short-lived as de Leede combined with Miranda Veringmeier.
The pair put on 85 inside ten overs to take the game away from the hosts, before Veringmeier was run out by Georgina Dempsey. The wicket was academic, as de Leede and Robine Rijke completed the chase in the 14th over, with the half-century maker adding an exclamation mark with a boundary.
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