Netherlands beat West Indies in Super Over in dramatic style
The ICC World Cup Qualifiers saw its first major upset as West Indies lost to Netherlands in a Super Over after putting up 374/6 in 50 overs. Netherlands got off to a solid start as the opening duo of Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd put on 76 runs in 10.4 overs. However, they slipped to 90/2 in no time, and it seemed that things would go downhill from there on. Wesley Barresi and Bas de Leede moved the game forward but could not up the scoring rate, as per the enormous job at hand.
When de Leede departed, Netherlands were 170/4 in 29.1 overs, still needing 205 in 125 balls, for a potential historic win. This is when Teja Nidamanuru and skipper Scott Edwards joined forces, and the duo put on a belligerent 143-run partnership in just 90 deliveries. When Edwards departed for a fluent 47-ball 67, lobbing a ball straight back to Roston Chase, his team still needed another 62 runs in 35 balls. All hopes rested on Nidamanuru. The right-hander got to his second ODI century but was dismissed in the 46th over by Jason Holder.
It seemed that Netherlands’ story would have a so-near-yet-so-far ending. However, Logan van Beek had other ideas. He scored a brilliant 14-ball 28, amassing 21 runs off the penultimate over from Chase in unison with Aryan Dutt. Alzarri Joseph was handed the responsibility of closing out the match with just nine runs required for the European nation. The tall pacer conceded a boundary off the first ball but returned admirably to give away just eight runs. As a result, the intriguing affair was taken into the Super Over.
Shai Hope tossed the ball to his most experienced bowler, Jason Holder, to bowl the Super Over. When van Beek walked out to bat alongside Edwards, it seemed odd that the centurion, Nidamanuru, was not sent ahead. However, van Beek proved his doubters wrong, plundering 30 runs off Holder’s over. The game-changing over read – 4, 6, 4, 6, 6, 4. The all-rounder took a liking to the leg-side boundary and peppered it with some of the cleanest hits you will ever see.
With an arduous task of chasing 31 runs in an over in hand, Johnson Charles and Shai Hope came out to bat. Van Beek was entrusted with the duty of bowling the over after his blitzkrieg earlier on. He conceded just eight runs and picked up two wickets, as Netherlands were cock-a-hoop. West Indies suffered their second consecutive loss and will have to go back to the drawing board.
Earlier in the day, West Indies put on a mammoth 374 runs, with Nicholas Pooran scoring his second hundred in the tournament. Johnson Charles and Brandon King also scored half-centuries.
