New Zealand thump the Netherlands to stay perfect at World Cup

New Zealand roared to a second successive win at the World Cup as they beat the Netherlands by 99 runs in Hyderabad on Monday, with left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner capturing five wickets after impressing with the bat earlier, reports Reuters.

Batsmen Will Young, Rachin Ravindra and Tom Latham all hit half-centuries for New Zealand, who backed up their victory over defending champions England in Ahmedabad last week with another superb display at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

The Netherlands lost a couple of early wickets chasing 323 and had some hope when Colin Ackermann (69) was at the wicket, but their target proved too steep and they folded for 223 in 46.3 overs with Santner taking 5-59.

He removed the dangerous Ackermann and Dutch captain Scott Edwards while pace bowler Matt Henry picked up 3-40 and Ravindra also chipped in with a wicket to secure the victory.

"Obviously credit to the boys up front with the bat. They gave us a good platform. It was nice to get to 322 and we knew it would skid on a little bit under lights, but we contained them and bowled well," said player of the match Santner.

"It was nice tonight, there was a little purchase. I didn't bowl my best to be fair but it was nice to get the rewards. They had some good partnerships, but we managed to take wickets like we did against England to slow them down."

New Zealand built a good platform with Devon Conway (32), Young (70), Ravindra (51), Daryl Mitchell (48) and Latham (53) all firing and although the Dutch responded they leaked runs late on and let the 2019 runners-up post 322-7 in 50 overs.

"The spinners were outstanding. Mitch bowled fantastically well. He's threatened like that for a long time," said Latham, who is leading the side as Kane Williamson builds match fitness following a knee injury.

"The big boys up front did a great job, managed to squeeze and we were able to use the scoreboard as a bit of pressure in terms of the run rate, so a job well done."

The Dutch spin-pace duo of Aryan Dutt and Ryan Klein earlier started with three straight maiden overs after they won the toss and elected to bowl although Young and Conway quickly broke the shackles to get New Zealand back on track.

The aggressive Conway looked to accelerate and holed out to Bas de Leede in the deep off Roelof van der Merwe, but Young was patient and reached his sixth half-century before carting Colin Ackermann for a massive six in the 22nd over.

He continued to milk the runs off the Netherlands bowlers in the company of the in-form Ravindra, but ballooned a shorter one from Paul van Meekeren to De Leede at mid-on.

Ravindra, who hit a rapid century against England, continued his good run with a steady fifty but departed after reaching his milestone as he edged Van der Merwe off his legs to Edwards.

Mitchell and Latham kept the score ticking briskly but their dismissals slowed things down before Santner struck an unbeaten 36 from 17 deliveries as New Zealand plundered 50 runs from the last three overs.

"I thought we were pretty good for 47 overs and then they got away from us," said Edwards.

"The wicket gets a bit better at night. But we know New Zealand are a disciplined bowling attack and they're not going to make that sort of total easy for you."

The only disappointments for New Zealand were a few dropped catches as they head into the clash with Bangladesh on Friday.