The Netherlands have got their ICC Europe Under-19 Championship campaign off to a perfect start with a win over Ireland at the VOC ground in Rotterdam today.

Dutch captain Joost Kroesen won the toss and chose to bat first. The Dutch innings started slowly thanks to some tight bowling by Ireland, and they had reached 57 when the fourth wicket fell in the 22nd over, Rahil Ahmed having scored 20.

By this point, the Irish bowling had become somewhat wayward, with most bowlers sending down their fair share of wides. The Dutch fifth wicket pair of Saqib Zulfiqar and Joost Kroesen took advantage of this bowling to put on 103 for the fifth wicket, taking the score to 160-5.

Krosen was dismissed for 45, whilst Zulfiqar went on to reach his fifty, eventually getting out for 51. The rest of the order didn't contribute much, and the Dutch were dismissed for 184, seven balls short of their full quota of overs.

It would be the 38 runs in extras that would come back to haunt Ireland later in their chase, which, like the Dutch innings, started slowly. Unlike the Dutch innings though, they couldn't put together a decent partnership, relying instead on some brief individual innings.

James McCollum scored 30 early in the innings, whilst Peter Eakin made the same score in the middle order. Rishi Chopra hit 24 from 28 balls late in the innings, but it wasn't enough to prevent Ireland being bowled out for 152, losing by 32 runs, those 38 extras proving to be crucial.

Ireland will hope to get their tournament back on track tomorrow when they play Denmark, whilst the hosts will look to make it two from two when they play Scotland.