The Netherlands established a solid lead in the tri-series with Bermuda and Canada with an eight-wicket win over the former in Potchefstroom on Tuesday, reaching their target of 178 in the 38th over to secure a bonus point and take 9 points from two games.

Bermuda won the toss and – rather surprisingly after their defeat by Canada yesterday – elected to bat.

This decision seemed at first to have been a good one, as Clay Smith and Dean Minors put on 50 for the first wicket in less than eight overs, taking full advantage of some less than accurate bowling by ten Doeschate and Jonkman.

But then Jonkman trapped Smith leg before, and soon afterwards the same bowler removed Irving Romaine’s middle stump. This reduced Bermuda to 65 for two, and then Minors clipped Billy Stelling straight to ten Doeschate at midwicket without further addition to the score.

Stelling was bowling well from the southern end, while Tim de Leede now produced a fine spell from the other direction, dismissing Janeiro Tucker, David Hemp and Lionel Cann at the cost of 26 runs in his ten overs.

Hemp was much less settled than he was yesterday, and he had a lucky escape when Luuk van Troost put down a straightforward catch at mid-on when he had made 15. He continued to 33, but then de Leede induced a nick to keeper Jeroen Smits, who took a neat catch standing up.

Several of the Bermudian batsmen were undone by shots played across the line, and Daan van Bunge picked up two wickets towards the end, the second that of Saleem Mukuddem, who had played very sensibly through the latter stages of the innings, top-scoring with 43. With the last man in he had a wild swipe at a ball from van Bunge and was comprehensively bowled.

The Bermudian innings therefore closed on 177, not nearly enough on a good batting wicket.

The Dutch reply got off on the wrong foot when Tom de Grooth drove Stefan Kelly straight to Hemp at mid-off, but then ten Doeschate joined Bas Zuiderent. He immediately went onto the offensive, hitting two fours and three sixes from the first sixteen balls he faced.

Batting without taking undue risks, Zuiderent and ten Doeschate added 96 for the second wicket in just under 22 overs, ten Doeschate reaching his fifty and going on to make 65 before clipping Hasan Durham to Kelly at midwicket. His innings lasted 87 minutes and 78 balls, with only one more four after his initial onslaught.

There was little sense, however, that the Bermudians gave themselves any chance of bowling the Dutch side out, and Zuiderent continued to accumulate runs, with support now coming from Maurits van Nierop, batting in his first ODI.

Zuiderent eventually reached his half-century, his first in an ODI since his precocious innings of 54 against England in the 1996 World Cup. Van Nierop took a little time to settle, but then played a couple of fine cover-drives of his own, and it was he who hit the winning runs, a splendid lofted six over long off.

Zuiderent finished with 63, made in 161 minutes off 101 balls, van Nierop making 31 in 49 minutes from 35 balls.

This was a comprehensive Dutch victory, and the bonus point they took for scoring at a rate better than 1.25 times that of the opposition puts them in the driving seat for the second half of the series, beginning in Benoni on Thursday.