New Zealand beats Netherlands by 118 runs, leads series 2-0

HAMILTON (AP): Captain Tom Latham carried his bat to score 140 runs on Saturday as New Zealand recovered from 34-5 to a beat the Netherlands by 118 runs in the second one-day cricket international.

New Zealand holds a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series after winning the first match by seven wickets.

The Netherlands had New Zealand under immense pressure Saturday when, after winning the toss, it made good use of the short ball to rip through New Zealand’s top order.

Fred Klaasen and Logan van Beek did the damage, leaving New Zealand 34-5. Klaasen dismissed Martin Guptill for 6 and Ross Taylor in his penultimate international match before retirement for 1.

Van Beek removed Henry Nicholls (19), Will Young (1) and Michael Bracewell (1) and finished with 4-56 from his 10 overs.

But Latham stood firm and steadily rebuilt the innings in partnerships of 57 with Colin de Grandhomme, 90 with Doug Bracewell and 42 with Ish Sodhi, allowing New Zealand to reach an unlikely 264-9.

The Netherlands again were in a strong position at 81-2 in the 16th over but faltered and were bowled out for 146 in 34.1 overs.

Bas de Leede top-scored with 37 but only two other batsmen reached double figures.