Brief scores: Ireland 161-6 (Dockrell 53*, Campher 37, Van Beek 2-26) beat the Netherlands 158-5 (O’Dowd 60, Adair 2-21) by 3 runs

Twice in the space of six days, and three games, the Netherlands failed to close out a run chase within sight. On Friday, the side came within four runs of chasing 162 to follow their one-run defeat last week, also against the Irish.

Unlike earlier in the series, when Tim Pringle nearly rescued the chase after a regular fall of wickets, the Dutch were cruising at 123-1 in the 16th over needing 39 off 28 balls.

What should have been a straightforward win turned pear-shaped as the side lost four wickets, including the set pair of Max O’Dowd (60 off 41) and Vikramjit Singh (27).

Craig Young bowled an impressive final over to defend 11 runs and hand Ireland the tri-series win with an undefeated run. Earlier with the bat, George Dockrell had rescued his side from 121-6 to post 161, taking 40 runs off the last 15 deliveries and 23 off the last six.

“This week we have shown in bits and pieces that we can do it and then we’ve just made some basic errors that have kind of cost us unfortunately,” Dutch all-rounder Logan van Beek, who finished as the leading wicket-taker with eight wickets with an impressive economy of 5.26, told Dutch News.

“If we can tighten up at the death with both the bat and the ball, that’s something we need to level up a little bit on. There were two games where they probably got 10-15 runs more than they should have. So that’s us letting ourselves down with the ball there. And then I think with the bat, it’s about finishing the game, we got ourselves in a great position today and we let ourselves down.”

“We can’t just bowl good 16 overs, and then go for 40 [runs]. In the last four, we have to give ourselves the best chance and bowl teams out for 140-145 instead of letting them get to 160.”

O’Dowd had a welcome return to form in the final game with his 12th T20I half-century, his first Internationally across any format since June 2023, hitting three fours and as many sixes, being proactive against spinners and the quicks alike.

The squad left Amsterdam for Florida on Saturday with two warm-up games to come against Sri Lanka (May 28) and Canada (May 30).

“I think we will use the two warm-up games to get the right combination that we want but there were patches where we got to know what works and what doesn’t but I still feel like we haven’t hit our straps which is a common theme,” Van Beek said.

“If you look back to the last few qualifying and World Cup tournaments, we hadn’t really found our form and then during the tournament, we were good to go.”

World Cup

“Off the field, there’s a good vibe to the team. On the field, I think guys are still trying to kind of understand their role and, and have confidence in their role,” he added.

The tri-series was not only an opportunity to test-drive readiness for the T20 World Cup in less than two weeks’ time but also to push for automatic qualification for the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, by virtue of finishing in top 12 by ICC’s ranking metrics by the cut-off date of June 30.

The three losses and a sole win now puts the Dutch in a precarious position requiring at least three wins over Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Any less and the side face the prospect of qualifying via regional qualifiers.