Netherlands' Assistant Coach Pins Series Loss on Poor Batting Choices, Not Senior Player Absences

Netherlands assistant coach Ryan van Niekerk said on Monday (September 1) that he does not believe their series loss to Bangladesh was due to absence of senior cricketers, and rather they paid the price of poor shot selection.

Netherlands have hardly put up a fight in the series so far, losing the three-match series with one game to spare after Bangladesh defeated them by nine wickets in the second game following their eight-win in the series opener.

The visitors, who were bowled out for 103 in the second match after managing only 136 in the opening game, missed seniors like Bas de Leede, Roelof van der Merwe, Fred Klaassen and Colin Ackermann in the series. Van Niekerk, however, refused to accept the absence of seniors as the reason for their poor showdown.

"Very disappointing (to lose the series in this manner) as we certainly hold high standards for ourselves and have been training that way," he said following the series loss. "I think Bangladesh are playing really good cricket at the moment in their home conditions. I don't think it is necessarily our batting depth (reason for the poor outing). I think it's just our decision making at the moment.

"When you play a top side like Bangladesh in their home conditions, those small margins all of a sudden make a big difference in terms of what totals you can put on the board. Their bowlers don't give you opportunities to score boundaries as well as they have quality fielding.

"If you're making poor decisions or taking a little longer to sum up conditions, when it comes to a quality side like Bangladesh, that's going to hurt you," he added.