IND vs NED Review: India record their longest winning streak in ODI World Cups
The 45th and least group match of the ongoing ODI World Cup took place at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, where India and Netherlands faced off and the hosts emerged victorious by a thumping 160-run margin.
India won the toss and elected to bat first. India’s top order laid the foundation with fifties, followed by impressive centuries from Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. Skipper Rohit Sharma set the tone with quick boundaries, while Shubman Gill contributed to a century stand with aggressive batting. However, both openers fell after promising starts.
Virat Kohli struggled initially but found his rhythm, becoming the tournament’s highest run-scorer. Unfortunately, he could not convert his fifty into a big score. Shreyas Iyer then took charge, showcasing aggressive batting and eventually reaching his maiden World Cup century. KL Rahul played a pivotal and he broke the record for the fastest World Cup ton by an Indian.
The late onslaught saw Iyer punishing the bowlers with massive sixes, particularly in the penultimate over where he took 25 runs off Logan van Beek. Rahul thrilled the crowd by breaking Rohit’s record for the fastest century in the tournament. Despite falling short of their highest World Cup total, India posted an imposing 410/4 in 50 overs.
Chasing the target, the Netherlands were never in the game but still, their batters gave their best as a few of them got some starts but were not able to convert their innings into a big knock and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Wesley Barresi was dismissed in the second over but after that, Max O’Dowd and Colin Ackermann stitched a good 61-run partnership for the second wicket as they both scored 30 and 35 respectively.
In the end, Teja Nidamanuru played a few lusty blows to reduce the losing margin as he made a good fifty. For India Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja all took two wickets each. While Kohli and Rohit also took one wicket each.
Top Performers of the Match
Shreyas Iyer (128 of 94)
Shreyas hadn’t got a good opportunity till now to bat in the tournament except for a few innings, due to the brilliant performance of India’s top three but today he got a good amount of time to spend at the crease. He took full advantage to smash his 1st World Cup hundred including 10 fours and f5 sixes in his innings.
Mohammed Siraj (2/29, 6 overs)
Siraj showcased great bowling prowess, bowled exceptionally well and swung the ball early on to trouble the Dutch batters. He took two important wickets of Dutch batters to derail their chase and continued his good form in the tournament.
What next?
Netherlands will go home as they haven’t been able to qualify for the semifinals. While, India will take on New Zealand in the first semi-finals on 15th November at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
