An outstanding bowling and fielding effort saw them defend 158-4, with their semi-final opponents Ireland falling short on 137-9. 

All semi-finalists have qualified for the T20 World Cup in Australia next year, with Papua New Guinea (PNG) defeating Namibia in the second match of the day, along with Scotland and Oman who finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

But there was still plenty to play for at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, with a spot in tomorrow's final up for grabs. 

A number of The Netherlands' top-order contributed to their solid total, with Ben Cooper's 37 and an unbeaten 43 from Ryan ten Doeschate doing most of the damage. 

Ireland's openers built a good platform, as Paul Stirling and Kevin O'Brien put on 52 for the first wicket. 

However, the rest of the team failed to deliver, with only Gareth Delany offering any stern middle-order resistance. 

George Dockrell fired a few lusty blows in the final overs but Ireland fell 21 runs short. 

The other semi-final was a low-scoring affair. 

PNG batted first and were in trouble at 31-3, but Charles Amini steadied the ship with 31. 

Sese Bau then delivered an outstanding 40 not out to see them through to 130-5.

Namibia would have been relatively confident of chasing that total down, and at 79-2 were looking good. 

But PNG rotated their bowlers cleverly, using eight in total, with Namibia only able to reach 112-5, losing by 18 runs.

The final and third-place playoff are tomorrow.