Harare: Logan van Beek produced an astonishing display of his all-round show in the Super Over to help the Netherlands stun West Indies for a famous victory in their Group A match of Men’s ODI World Cup Qualifiers at the Takashinga Sports Club, here on Monday.
After a tied match where both teams made 374 in their respective 50 overs, van Beek hit 30 runs off six balls allotted to the Netherlands, hitting an astonishing three fours and as many sixes off Jason Holder, setting a new record for most runs hit in a Super Over of ODIs.
He then returned with the ball to take out Johnson Charles and Holder while conceding eight runs to pull off a heist for the Netherlands.
With this thrilling win, the Netherlands carry two crucial points to the Super Six, while West Indies carry none to the next stage, making their chances of qualifying for the ODI World Cup in India extremely slim.
Van Beek pulled off a class display with the willow against Holder, following up his 28 off 14 at the end of the Dutch batting innings with 30 off six balls in the Super Over. Nicholas Pooran wasn’t allowed to participate in the Super Over because of his absence from the field for an extended period of time, as West Indies eventually ended up on the losing side.
In the Netherlands chase of 375, Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd added 76 runs for the first wicket within the first 11 overs. But a mistimed reverse sweep from O’Dowd ended up in the hands of the short third man in the 11th over.
In his very next over, Chase also accounted for Singh, who went for a massive heave but ended up placing the ball into the hands of Pooran at deep mid-wicket. Wesley Barresi and Bas de Leede stitched a 38-run stand to stabilise the Dutch innings.
But Barresi eventually fell in the 22nd over, while trying to nudge an Akeal Hosein delivery behind the wicket, as the asking rate soared to over nine runs an over. After losing de Leede (33) in the 30th over, Teja Nidamanuru and Scott Edwards joined forces to give the innings a much-needed boost.
At the back of attacking shots from the duo, Netherlands picked up the scoring rate, and made the most of overs 31-40, making 88 runs. Nidamanuru unleashed a fine set of shots in the upcoming overs to take the lead in run-scoring, as Edwards became second fiddle.
Nidamanuru brought up his century off three consecutive fours, his century coming off just 68 balls. Just when it seemed like the scales were shifting in favour of the Dutch, Edwards gave a catch straight back to Chase in the 45th over, falling for 67 off 47 balls and ending a crucial 143-run stand off just 90 balls.
Holder produced another twist in the 46th over as Saqib Zulfiqar and Nidamanuru (111 off 76 balls) fell in quick succession. The game saw another turn with the eighth-wicket stand of 39 runs off 18 balls between Aryan Dutt and van Beek.
Twenty one of those runs came in the 49th over delivered by Chase, to bring the equation down to nine runs off the last over. Netherlands got off to a flyer as a four flew off the bat of van Beek.
But Alzarri Joseph struck back, giving only two runs off the next three balls while also taking the wicket of Dutt. Van Beek had taken two off the second last ball and only one needed to win, the Dutch batter failed to clear the in-field and was caught by Holder. After Netherlands innings ended at 374/9, van Beek would get another chance via Super Over to take Netherlands over the line.
During the West Indies innings, an imperious 104 not out off 65 balls from Pooran, along with crucial knocks from Brandon King (74), Charles (54), Hope (47) and Keemo Paul (46 not out) helped the two-time World Cup champions post 374/6.
King and Charles unleashed 13 boundaries in the first powerplay, as the Dutch bowlers struggled with their lines and lengths.The duo added 101 runs for the first wicket before Charles was trapped lbw by Vivian Kingma. However, King kept going from the other end and got decent support from Shamarh Brooks, bringing up his fifty in the 22nd over.
West Indies were rocked by twin strikes from Zulfiqar in the 27th and 29th overs, losing King and Brooks. Hope and Pooran gently guided West Indies through this period, raising the century of their partnership off just 73 balls.
Though de Leede and van Beek collectively made three quick strikes in the space of 15 balls, Pooran managed to take West Indies past 350. Keemo Paul too played his role with a lively 46 from 25, as Pooran scored his third ODI hundred, reaching his century in 63 balls, the third-fastest effort for West Indies in ODIs.
Brief Scores: Netherlands 374/9 in 50 overs (Teja Nidamanuru 111, Scott Edwards 67, Roston Chase 3/77) tied with West Indies 374/6 in 50 overs (Nicholas Pooran 104 not out, Brandon King 76, Saqib Zulfiqar 2/43). Netherlands won the Super Over
(IANS)
