17 wickets fell in the day, one more than had gone on Wednesday, and by the close the Scots were on 52 for three, needing 149 more to take the outright victory.
Having fought their way back into the Intercontinental Cup match at Westvliet late on Wednesday and on Thursday morning, dismissing Scotland for 133 and establishing a 77-run lead, the Netherlands squandered their advantage in the afternoon session and were bowled out for an extremely disappointing 123.
Resuming on 35 for six, Matthew Cross and Rob Taylor resisted for 45 minutes against the left-arm spin of Van der Merwe and the pace of Viv Kingma and Paul van Meekeren, doubling the total and seeing their side past the 60 they needed to avoid the follow-on, Cross clearing that mark and the midwicket boundary with a splendid pull shot off Van Meekeren.
The total had reached 67 when Cross, on 17, went back to Van de Merwe and was trapped in front, and then in the following over Quirijn Gunning, given the ball for the first time in the innings, accounted for De Lange in the same manner.
Taylor, though, was making the most of every opportunity, and made his way to 46, including one magnificent six off Van der Merwe, before Kingma, returning once again from the Paddock End, got one through his defences and brought a defiant innings to an end.
Scotland were now 103 for nine, but Sharif was still there, and he and Evans, as Van Meekeren and Kingma had done for the Dutch on Wednesday, contributed an irritating but invaluable last-wicket stand, taking the total on to 133 and forcing the introduction of Rippon and the return of Van der Merwe before Rippon removed Sharif.
So the Dutch had made sure of the first-innings points, but Scotland struck back immediately by dismissing Rahil Ahmed before the lunch interval and then pressed home their response in the first twenty minutes after it, when they removed Ben Cooper, Roelof van der Merwe and Wesley Barresi in the space of four overs by the time 31 runs were on the board.
Matters became worse for the home side when Michael Rippon was run out attempting an unduly sharp single and falling foul of a direct hit from Con de Lange, but Pieter Seelaar and Stef Myburgh set about digging their side out of trouble, batting watchfully but taking advantage of anything loose.
They took the total on to 85, but then, ten minutes before tea, Seelaar attempted a pull, and could only top-edge the ball to deep backward square leg, where Evans took a good running catch.
Peter Borren joined Myburgh, and with the help of a couple of sweep shots from the skipper the Dutch had reached 105 for six by tea.
But almost immediately afterwards Myburgh, having again provided solidity in the middle order and reached 31, got under an off-drive from the bowling of Berrington and was well taken by Davey.
Confusion and controversy followed five overs later, when a mix-up between Borren and Van Meekeren culminated in Berrington clumsily breaking the wicket at the non-striker's end as Van Meekeren struggled to make his ground.
It was unclear whether he had done so cleanly, and umpire Nero seemed initially to turn down the appeal. But he was immediately surrounded by remonstrating fielders, and after a long consultation with his colleague he gave the fielders the benefit of the doubt and sent Van Meekeren on his way.
After another two overs, with eight wickets now down, Borren attempted to hit Berrington over the covers and was well caught by Gardiner running away from the wicket. The Dutch skipper's frustration and disappointment were clearly audible.
Kingma fell to another good catch, this time by De Lange off Sharif, and Scotland were left with 201 to make if they were to claim the 14 points which were still available. Josh Davey was again the most successful of the bowlers with three for 43, while Berrington's two for 7 and Sharif's two for 8 also played a crucial part in bringing their side back into the game.
But there was time for another swing of fortune, and the Dutch bowlers came back hard in their turn. Van Meekeren contrived a Kyle Coetzer edge to Van der Merwe at second slip, Van der Merwe himself trapped Gardiner in front, and Gunning had Machan caught by Barresi down the leg side to reduce the Scots to 18 for three.
Mommsen and Berrington survived the nine overs to the close, adding 34 priceless runs in the process, and the day ended with the game hanging in the balance. The first hour's play on Friday, starting at 10:30, will almost certainly be decisive.