West Indies v Netherlands
Group Stage – One Day International – ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers
Venue: Takashinga Sports Club
Toss: Netherlands won the toss and bowled
Result: Tied. Netherlands won Super Over
Scorecard: https://bit.ly/wivnedwcq
Harare, Zimbabwe – In a thrilling final group stage encounter between the West Indies and Netherlands for second position in Group A, a miraculous 786 runs were split between both teams, with the Dutch emerging victorious.
West Indies lost the toss and were inserted to bat on a traditionally tricky wicket. However, openers Johnson Charles (54 from 55) and Brandon King (76 from 81) were successful in showing some early aggression, getting the Men in Maroon to 101 before Charles was dismissed leg-before wicket.
Captain Shai Hope continued his rich vein of form, falling agonizingly short of a half century, scoring 47 (38 balls) while trying to accelerate the innings at a crucial time. Nicholas Pooran scored his second century of the tournament, blasting 104 (65 balls), before Keemo Paul (46 not out off 25) came in and propelled the West Indies to 374-6 in their allotted 50 overs.
Coming to bat with a big target, the Dutch played well to level the score – their highest in ODI history. The obvious standout was Teja Nidamanuru, who scored a fabulous 111 off just 76 balls and almost saw the game home for the Netherlands. Skipper Scott Edwards (67 from 47) also batted particularly well, before disappointingly lobbing one back to Roston Chase, who was the pick of the West Indies bowlers with figures of 3-77.
Alzarri Joseph had to wait until the final regulation over to get his first wicket of the match, which made him the fastest West Indian bowler ever to 100 ODI wickets, taking 60 matches to reach the milestone. He ended with 2-73 from 10 overs, identical figure to left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein. Joseph was excellent in the final over as he defended nine runs – his second wicket came on the final ball of the day to leave the scores tied with Netherlands on 374-9.
Queue the super over. Netherlands scored 3-0- as Logan van Beek hit three fours and three sixes off Jason Holder. The task proved too tall for the West Indies, as van Beek grabbed the ball as well for the Dutch and held his nerve, after being hit for a first-ball six by Johnson Charles to eventually dismiss Charles and Romario Shepherd.
The victory means that while both teams will advance to the Super Six stage of the competition, the Netherlands will do so with two points while the West Indies will advance without points. Zimbabwe topped the group with four wins and will advance with four points.
In the Super Six West Indies will play Scotland on Saturday, 1 July, Oman on Wednesday, 5 July and Sri Lanka on Friday, 7 July, trying to gain crucial points earn a spot in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, which will be played in India in October and November.
West Indies Match Schedule for Super Six
(all matches start at 9am/3am East Caribbean/2am Jamaica)
Saturday, 1 July: vs Scotland at Harare Sports Club
Wednesday, 5 July: vs Oman at Harare Sports Club
Friday, 7 July: vs Sri Lanka at Harare Sports Club
Sunday, 9 July: Final, Harare Sports Club
