Netherlands Women vs Papua New Guinea Women Prediction: PNG was whitewashed in last series

Netherlands Women and Papua New Guinea Women are going to face each other in the Match 1 of One Day Series at Sportpark Maarschalkerweerd, Utrecht, Netherlands on 5th August 2024. PNG was whitewashed in their last series. Who will win this game of cricket?

Babette de Leede has been appointed skipper of the Netherlands women for their forthcoming ODIs, pushing out Heather Siegers. Non-availability of Siegers means that a substitute middle-order batsman needs to be fitted in and Robine Rijke could be a great contender at number 4 in the batting line-up. Iris Zwilling and Phebe Molkenboer will open the innings for the hosts.

Rijke is an aggressive batter, in marked contrast to the more circumspect attitude of openers and number 3 for the team. Zwilling, who batted in the middle order in the last ODI series against Thailand, is likely to open this time. There are a number of all-rounders in the squad, which points to a deep batting lineup.

Frederique Overdijk, Zwilling, and Silver Siegers are the main bowlers to watch out for in the squad, as they have been consistent performers in recent T20 matches and could cause trouble for the visiting team.

Iris Zwilling, Phebe Molkenboer, Babette de Leede (c & wk), Robine Rijke, Sanya Khurana, Carlijn van Koolwijk, Frederique Overdijk, Caroline de Lange, Merel Dekeling, Hannah Landheer, Silver Siegers

The Papua New Guinea women are going to come back hard after their recent losing streak. They lost all the matches previously that were played back-to-back, so in a way, the upcoming match becomes a tough deal for them. Their last win came against the USA, where they chased down quite successfully a target of 161 runs in hand at ICC Cricket Ground in Dubai. However, in their next game, against Scotland, they were cleaned up for a mere 113 runs when chasing a modest target of 218.

Against Zimbabwe, Papua New Guinea Women did not score more than 200 runs in any of the three ODI games. Naoani Vere and captain Brenda Tau normally open the batting for PNG; both are key players for PNG's good performances. Though these key players have not been in the best of form of late, middle-order batsmen Tanya Ruma and Shibona Jimmy have turned out valuable contributions in the recent games. Ruma scored an unbeaten 80 in the successful run chase against the USA, while Jimmy scored 57 off 91 balls in a losing effort against Zimbabwe.

In the same ODI series, captain Tau crawled to 72 runs at the top of the order at a very slow pace, and PNG was able to finish below 200 runs in that particular match. So, it is manifestly obvious that only a few batters in the team can score big, and even then they may not be able to help the team reach a high total. Some of the key wicket-takers of the team include Pauke Siaka, Shibona Jimmy, and Dika Lohia. Each one of them has variations of bowling. While some players have risen to take wickets on their own, a lot is yet to be expected in their performance. 

Brenda Tau (c&wk), Dika Lohia, Henao Thomas, Isabel Toua, Kevau Frank, Melanie Ani, Naoani Vare, Pauke Siaka, Sibona Jimmy, Tanya Ruma, Vicky Araa

Though this is the first ODI game the Netherlands women's team is playing in a long time, there is enough reason for them to be optimistic due to excellent performances turned in during T20Is recently on home ground. A well-balanced team with a robust bowling attack should trouble Papua New Guinea's struggling lineup. The deficit of reliable batters and problems with strike rates bog down PNG, which makes Netherlands Women the favorite in this forthcoming match.