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In some ways you could have probably seen this coming - while the Netherlands are currently on something of a roll, having just defeated Bangladesh and claimed their place on the ICC ODI rankings table, most of the Zimbabwe XI side haven't seen competitive cricket since the end of the domestic season, and their rustiness certainly showed yesterday as they slumped to a 58-run defeat against the men in orange. Not that excuses should be made for such a dismal performance.

Netherlands won the toss and opted to bat, and in the opening innings it seemed that Zimbabwe had the upper hand - the bowlers certainly kept a lid on the Dutch, taking regular wickets and effectively restricting the scoring as the home side only managed to limp their way to 194/9 from their 50 overs. Tom Cooper (49) and Wesley Barresi (47) were the only two notable knocks, while Ed Rainsford led Zim's bowling figures with 3/39, assisted by Shingi Masakadza and Nathan Waller who chipped in with two apiece. At the half-way point, a Zimbabwean win certainly seemed likely enough.

As anyone who follows Zim cricket will know, though, you can never really place your faith in the batsmen, and while the bowling attack came to play, the batsman never did. Whether is was lack of match practice, unfamiliar conditions, or a Dutch attack that had been paying attention is ultimately irrelevant - Zimbabwe simply failed to apply themselves, with several players getting bogged down and failing to score at anything close to the required rate. Only Charles Coventry, with 31 off 37 balls, came out of the innings with any pride intact, while of the rest only Stuart Matsikenyeri (22) passed 15. The innings ended with a whimper as Zimbabwe's innings ended for a paltry 136. It's worth noting that Sean Williams was unable to bat through injury.

It's a performance that simply must not be repeated in the Intercontinental Cup match, starting tomorrow, if Zimbabwe XI want to retain any chance of reaching the final. At the moment, though, the Dutch clearly have the upper hand going into that match. Full scorecard below the cut.
Netherlands 194/9 (50 overs; Cooper 49, Rainsford 3/39), Zimbabwe XI 136 (39.4 overs; Coventry 31, Jonkman 3/18). Netherlands win by 58 runs.

Netherlands innings (50 overs maximum)	
							R	B	4s	6s	SR	
ES Szwarczynski		c Ervine b Rainsford		10	24	1	0	41.66	
NA Statham		c Matsikenyeri b Masakadza	3	13	0	0	23.07	
TLW Cooper		st †Chakabva b Williams		49	82	4	0	59.75	
TN de Grooth		b Waller			10	24	1	0	41.66	
B Zuiderent*		c †Chakabva b Waller		9	33	0	0	27.27	
W Barresi†		run out (Matsikenyeri)		47	64	3	0	73.43	
Mudassar Bukhari	c †Chakabva b Rainsford		14	20	1	1	70.00	
RG Nijman		b Rainsford			23	26	2	0	88.46	
MMA Jonkman		b Masakadza			4	5	0	0	80.00	
Adeel Raja		not out				5	8	0	0	62.50	
PM Seelaar		not out				1	2	0	0	50.00	
	Extras	(b 3, lb 9, w 6, nb 1)			19					
	Total	(9 wickets; 50 overs)			194	(3.88 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Statham, 3.6 ov), 2-24 (Szwarczynski, 8.2 ov), 3-48 (de Grooth, 17.2 ov), 
4-81 (Zuiderent, 27.5 ov), 5-94 (Cooper, 31.3 ov), 6-127 (Mudassar Bukhari, 38.4 ov), 
7-177 (Barresi, 46.3 ov), 8-184 (Jonkman, 47.6 ov), 9-186 (Nijman, 48.4 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
EC Rainsford	10	1	39	3	3.90	(1nb, 1w)	
SW Masakadza	10	2	41	2	4.10	(1w)	
N Waller	10	1	24	2	2.40		
N Mushangwe	10	1	38	0	3.80	(3w)	
SC Williams	3	0	14	1	4.66		
S Matsikenyeri	5	0	14	0	2.80	(1w)	
CR Ervine	1	0	7	0	7.00		
F Mutizwa	1	0	5	0	5.00		


Zimbabwe XI innings (target: 195 runs from 50 overs)	
						R	B	4s	6s	SR	
S Matsikenyeri	b Seelaar			22	43	1	0	51.16	
V Sibanda*	c Statham b Mudassar Bukhari	14	15	1	0	93.33	
RW Chakabva†	c †Barresi b Nijman		10	16	1	0	62.50	
CK Coventry	c †Barresi b Mudassar Bukhari	31	37	1	1	83.78	
CR Ervine	c Statham b Adeel Raja		10	42	1	0	23.80	
F Mutizwa	c †Barresi b Mudassar Bukhari	8	18	1	0	44.44	
SW Masakadza	c Seelaar b Jonkman		14	31	1	0	45.16	
N Waller	c Cooper b Jonkman		3	13	0	0	23.07	
N Mushangwe	b Jonkman			7	14	0	0	50.00	
EC Rainsford	not out				2	9	0	0	22.22	
SC Williams	absent hurt			-					
	Extras	(lb 3, w 12)			15					
	Total	(all out; 39.4 overs)		136	(3.42 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-19 (Sibanda, 4.1 ov), 2-44 (Chakabva, 9.5 ov), 3-65 (Matsikenyeri, 14.6 ov), 
4-88 (Ervine, 24.1 ov), 5-98 (Coventry, 27.3 ov), 6-111 (Mutizwa, 31.1 ov), 
7-125 (Waller, 35.1 ov), 8-128 (Masakadza, 37.1 ov), 9-136 (Mushangwe, 39.4 ov)

Bowling			O	M	R	W	Econ		
Mudassar Bukhari	8	1	31	3	3.87	(2w)	
RG Nijman		6	0	33	1	5.50	(2w)	
PM Seelaar		9	1	24	1	2.66		
MMA Jonkman		7.4	1	18	3	2.34	(2w)	
Adeel Raja		6	1	15	1	2.50		
ES Szwarczynski		2	0	10	0	5.00	(2w)	
TLW Cooper		1	0	2	0	2.00