New Zealand beats the Netherlands by 16 runs in 1st T20

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — New Zealand bowled out the Netherlands for 132 and won their Twenty20 by 16 runs on Thursday.

After New Zealand medium-pacer Blair Tickner took three wickets in the first four overs, the chasing Dutch felt the pressure to hit out and lost wickets regularly.

They were 73-6 in the 14th over and 93-7 after 16 and running out of big hitters.

Bas de Leede, who came to the crease after seven balls of the innings, was the last man out in the last over for a match-high 66 off 53 balls, including five boundaries and two sixes.

De Leede also took two catches and bowled two relatively cheap overs.

But not as well as Tickner, who claimed 4-27 in 21 balls, and fellow medium-pacer Ben Sears, 3-22.

Opener Martin Guptill led New Zealand when it chose to bat first, scoring 45 off 36.

Jimmy Neesham added 32 off 17 but they labored against Netherlands spinners Tim Pringle, Shariz Ahmad and Tom Cooper to put up 148-7.

But it was enough in their second matchup, and first since 2014. The teams play a second and last T20 on Friday.

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