Dutch men’s team keeps World Cup qualification hopes alive after big win over Oman
Published at 03 July, 2023The Dutch men keep an eye on World Cup qualification by winning the game against Oman by a wide margin. Thanks to Vikram Singh (110 runs), who made his first international century, and Wesley Barresi (97), the Netherlands made 362 runs in Harare, Zimbabwe. Oman didn't come close: 246. That was mostly due to Ryan Klein (2-34) and Aryan Dutt (3-31). The Netherlands must now hope that Scotland will beat Zimbabwe tomorrow (Tuesday) and must then beat the Scots on Thursday.
At the Harare Sports Club in Zimbabwe, Oman won the toss and chose to field. As usual, there was a lot of swing in the first Powerplay. After a rain break, both teams got 48 overs. Vikram Singh immediately went after Kaleemullah with some beautifully timed cover drives. In the eighteenth over, two milestones were reached: his half century and the 100/0 for the Netherlands.
The first wicket fell on 117. O'Dowd (35) wanted to sweep, made room on the offside and lost his legstump. Vikram's very first ODI century came in the 31st – a formidable performance by the only 20-year-old Amsterdammer.
With nine wickets in hand, a score of well over 300 should be possible. Vikram was caught for 110, but almost unnoticed Wesley Barresi raced to a sublime ODI 50 (his eighth). Edwards (4) was not given that milestone this time (227/3). However, Bas de Leede (39 off 19 balls) used his full repertoire of shots. Barresi made the 300th run in the 44th over, but was caught behind the wicket on 97. With an unleashed Saqib Zulfiqar (33 off 17), the Netherlands reached 362/7/48.
Oman innings
Van Beek's first over cost fifteen runs and Klein dropped a return catch (Jatinder). That drop turned out not to be that expensive, as a misunderstanding with Prajapati cost Jatinder (17 run out) his wicket (34/1). Aqib Ilyas looked bewildered when he saw a lifter from Klein land into the hands of Singh at first slip (50/2).
The Netherlands fielded ‘hit and miss’. O'Dowd lacked leaping power and dropped Ayaan Khan, who had been dropped by Saqib Zulfiqar moments earlier. Later, Singh would miss a difficult slipcatch and Logan van Beek would miss two run-out chances. Lefthander Ayaan Khan took advantage of the dropped catches and made his first ODI century.
Ryan Klein bowled brilliantly; Oman had no answer to line, length and good pace. The other stand-out bowler was undoubtedly offspinner Aryan Dutt, who alternated his offbreaks perfectly with armballs. Dutt was lucky to have an athletic fielder; Ryan Klein picked up a great running catch at long on. Then Dutt fooled Nadeem with an armball and Edwards made an alert stumping (Shoaib, 214/5).
Meanwhile, Oman was 75 runs behind the DLS target. Due to the rapidly deteriorating light, the match was finished after 44 overs. Oman was on 6/246.
It was the match of the youngsters: Vikram Singh with 110 and Aryan Dutt 3-31 in ten overs. Two bright prospects of Dutch cricket. Nevertheless, the Netherlands will look back on this match with mixed feelings. Without the fifteen (!) wides and with a handful of catches, the Orange could have brought its Net Run Rate to a similar level to that of Scotland.
Photo credit: ICC/Getty
