HARARE [Zimbabwe]: West Indies hit a new low on Monday after the Netherlands prevailed over them in an ICC Cricket World Cup qualifier match on Monday at the Takashinga Sports Club.
The Netherlands won the match in a pulsating super-over.
After the defeat, West Indies captain Shai Hope said his team "definitely needed" to learn from the defeat.
Batting first, West Indies put up an imposing total of 374 runs. The Dutch gave the Windies a hot chase but fell agonizingly short of the target at the end of 50 overs.
With the two teams tied on the same score at the end of the regulation 50 overs, the match was decided by a super over. The Dutch prevailed in the end.
After the defeat, West Indies captain Hope said, "Cricket is not played in one half. We knew we had to bowl well but I always thought 375 would be enough. We definitely need to learn from this."
He added, "You really can't. We let ourselves down there. I cannot see us scoring 375 and losing the game. Credit to Netherlands for chasing that down."
On whether the West Indies will be heading into Super Six with zero points, Hope said, "We know what we have to do now. It is an unfortunate situation we have put ourselves in but it is what it is."
Logan van Beek turned things around towards the end of the game to give the Dutch a famous win over their more fancied rivals. With this, the Netherlands will carry two crucial points to the Super Six, while West Indies will carry none.
In the super-over, Logan van Beek pulled off a class display with the willow against Jason Holder. He followed up his 28 off 14 at the end of the Dutch innings, with a 30 from six balls in the Super Over. He clubbed 4, 6, 4, 6, 6 and 4 off Holder's 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. Johnson Charles and Shai Hope took strike. It was West Indies' nemesis van Beek, who starred with the ball as well and gave away merely eight runs, while also picking two wickets, to secure a famous Dutch win.
In the Netherlands innings, Vikramjit Singh and Max O'Dowd gave the Dutch courage with a positive start. They added 76 runs for the first wicket within the first 11 overs.
Wesley Barresi and Bas de Leede stitched a 38-run stand to stabilise the Dutch innings. Barresi eventually fell in the 22nd over, while trying to nudge a Akeal Hosein delivery behind the wicket.
Dutch lost another wicket in the 30th over in the form of de Leede (33), but Teja Nidamanuru and Scott Edwards came together to give the innings a much-needed boost. They added 88 runs in this period.
Teja brought up his century off three consecutive fours. This was his second hundred and came off merely 68 balls.
Scott Edwards nudged a ball straight back to Chase in the 45th over. This caught and bowled dismissal brought an end to their enterprising 143-run stand. West Indies then clawed their way back into the game with the ball. Holder's 46th oversaw the fall of Saqib Zulfiqar and Nidamanuru (111).
However, the game saw another turn with the eighth-wicket stand between Aryan Dutt and Logan van Beek. They added 39 runs off 18 balls, 21 off which came in the 49th over delivered by Chase, to bring the equation down to nine runs off the last over.
West Indies player Alzarri struck back, giving only two runs off the next three balls while also taking the wicket of Aryan Dutt. However, it seemed that the game had gone Netherlands' way when van Beek had taken two off the second last ball. Requiring only one to win, the Dutch batter failed to clear the in-field and was caught by Holder.
During the West Indies innings, Pooran, along with crucial knocks from Brandon King, Johnson Charles, Shai Hope and Keemo Paul, helped West Indies post a solid total against the Netherlands.
The new opening pair of Brandon King and Johnson Charles played well in the powerplay. They hit as many as 13 boundaries in this period.
Together they added 101 runs for the first wicket before Charles (54) was trapped lbw by Vivian Kingma. However, King kept going from the other end and got decent support from Shamarh Brooks. He brought up his fifty in the 22nd over.
After losing their set batters, King (76) and Brooks (25), Skipper Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran expertly guided them through the tough phase. Their century partnership came off merely 73 balls.
However, guided by Pooran, West Indies managed to cross 350. Keemo Paul too played his role with a lively 46 from 25.
Pooran scored his third ODI hundred during this innings. His century came off merely 63 balls and was the third-fastest for West Indies in ODIs.
