The Netherlands put up a solid show against reigning T20 World Cup champions, India, in Ahmedabad, falling 17 short in the end despite Zach Lion-Cachet and Noah Croes' late fightback.

The mindset of top-level athletes is one of the most extraordinary aspects of human nature. The Netherlands, having received confirmation that they were knocked out of the competition less than an hour before the toss, had to jump straight into action against the pre-tournament favourites, India, in front of the biggest crowd the Dutch had ever played in front of.

After opting to bat at the colossal Narendra Modi Stadium (a venue capable of hosting 130,000 spectators), India looked set for a commanding start. However, those expectations were quickly dashed in the very first over.

In a move that proved to be a masterstroke of strategy, Scott Edwards, playing in his 50th T20I as captain, chose to open the bowling attack with Aryan Dutt once again. The decision yielded spectacular results as Dutt dismissed the reigning ICC No. 1 T20I batter, Abhishek Sharma, for a duck. Sharma's ongoing poor run of form throughout the tournament was ruthlessly exploited, giving the oranje an early, crucial breakthrough.

Dutt bowled three overs in the powerplay and dismissed the in-form Ishan Kishan, being left bamboozled as the ball rolled onto the stumps after he missed the shot. The Dutch opted for four overs of spin in the powerplay, expertly coming up trumps in the battle of early match ups.

The ninth over bowled by Logan Van Beek was a rollercoaster, with Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav hitting the ball high up to Michael Levitt, who failed to hold onto the catch. Later in the same over, the 41-year-old, Roelof van der Merwe, channelled his inner Van Der Saar, diving to the right and taking one of the best catches of the tournament to dismiss Tilak Varma for 31 runs.

In a game of fine margins, Dutt trapped Shivam Dube for two and Edwards sent the decision upstairs, with the umpire's call being the deciding factor as Dutt closed out his spell, conceding a mere two runs off the final over, finishing with figures of 2-19 at the end of his four overs, with India batting at 76/3 after 11 overs.

Dube added salt to the wound, scoring 17 runs in five balls off Colin Ackermann. The Netherlands struck back strongly in the next over as Kyle Klein dismissed Suryakumar with a catch straight to fine leg, with the Indian skipper walking off with a score of 34 (28).

Despite their strong position, the Netherlands failed in the death bowling department once again, with 75 runs coming from the last five overs, with Hardik Pandya adding 30 and Dube finishing with 66 from 31 balls, elevating India to 193/6.

The chase saw the Netherlands openers trying to figure it out against navigating two overs apiece from Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh before attacking Washington Sundar, gaining eleven runs from that over. It was the ICC Men’s No. 1 ranked T20I bowler Chakravarthy who struck first, dismissing Max O’Dowd with a googly that spun back in and knocked over the leg stump, wrapping up the Dutch powerplay at 36-1.

Pandya picked up Levitt in the 8th over, but was hit around the park for 14 runs in his next over. Chakravarthy remained unplayable and picked up Ackermann (23) and Dutt in the first two balls of the 13th over. De Leede, who previously survived through an umpire's call earlier in the innings, scored a solid 33 before losing his wicket to Dube.

Netherlands were in a similar position to India requiring 76 from the last five overs, however the excellence of Bumrah saw Edwards sent back to the dugout as he knocked over his stumps.

Lion-Cachet 26 (16) and Croes 25* (12) played strong knocks to end the innings as the Dutch ultimately fell 17 runs short.

The campaign began with a thriller at Colombo when the Dutch had victory in their sights, having restricted Pakistan to 114/7. However, fate had other plans when O’Dowd dropped a crucial catch that would have all but secured the victory, and an onslaught by Faheem Ashraf (24 runs in the 19th over) punished them harshly as Pakistan stole the victory, highlighting the difficulties in death bowling.

The Netherlands faced a heavy defeat to the USA, struggling against the spin of Harmeet Singh (4/21), which effectively knocked them out of the tournament.

They put up a clinical performance in their solitary win in New Delhi, where De Leede became the first Netherlands player to score a half-century and take 2 wickets, finishing with 72* from 48 balls as the Netherlands cruised to the target with 12 balls remaining.

The Dutch will now look to regroup as a massive European summer season approaches.