West Indies win first ODI despite fantastic innings Singh and Nidamanuru

This ‘Summer of Cricket’ the Netherlands will play against four high-ranked countries: West Indies, England, Pakistan, and two T20s against New Zealand in August.

Betty Timmer and her team had turned the VRA ground into a nice little stadium. Three world class commentators were responsible for English commentary for Viaplay and ESPN which broadcast the match in the Netherlands and abroad.

Alzarri Joseph and Anderson Phillip opened the bowling for the West Indies who won the toss. Both Dutch opening batsmen, Vikram Singh and Max O’Dowd, had to get used to the serious pace. In the fourth over however, Singh found the boundary three times.

Singh batted as if he had never done differently. Anderson Phillip in particular was exposed to the 19 year old lefthander. In the ninth over, Singh dealt with two short-pitched deliveries brilliantly hitting two sixes over fine leg.

Putting on spinner Akeal Hosein not only meant that the scoring tempo was reduced, but also led to the downfall of Vikram Singh. An LBW shout, turned down by umpire Illingworth, was successfully reviewed by the West Indians. Singh out for a fantastic 47 and the Netherlands on 63/1 after twelve.

Although Vikram unfortunately missed his 50, a good start.

With Musa Ahmad, the left hand/right hand combination remained intact. Two batters who rotated the strike and found the single quite easily.

In the 22nd over, Musa played across the line. Hosein however got in his quicker delivery and got his second LBW: 102/2. In the 27th over O’Dowd was bowled for a patient 39: 124/3. At this stage the run rate was not bad at all, around 4.6.

The 30th over saw the downfall of Bas de Leede who was caught behind for 17. 137/4 was still a score with potential, but the pressure on the middle order had increased somewhat.

De Leede's dismissal brought debutant Teja Nidamanuru to the crease. Apart from a severe West Indian attack he was also confronted with severe rain that lasted for quite a while.

Play resumed at 15.35 with revised playing conditions, 45 overs per team.

Anderson Phillip came back for his third spell. Edwards was the third LBW victim of the day. A review was to no avail: 155/5.

Alzarri Joseph came back into the attack, touching 145 km/h from time to time. After Seelaar's wicket, Van Beek (11) and Nidamanuru (a wonderful 58 not out on debut) made a rapid 55 for the seventh wicket. The final score was 240/7. Left arm spinner Hosein took 2-29/9.

Innings West Indies

The DLS target was set at 247. Due to the rain, the second innings started late: after 17:00, with Van Beek and Kingma as opening bowlers. Opening batsmen Shai Hope and Shamarh Brooks didn't need much time to settle on the excellent Amstelveen strip. After the powerplay - shortened to nine overs - it was 40/0.

After being hit for six twice, Kingma was replaced by Seelaar. On the other end, Ryan Klein took over from Logan van Beek. In the sixteenth over Seelaar was unlucky when Brooks played on but the bail remained where it was. Other than that, the West Indian openers hardly gave away any chances. At the drinks break after sixteen overs they were perfectly on track with ten wickets in hand.

For a long time, the Netherlands did not manage to force a breakthrough - not even with offspinner Aryan Dutt who saw his very first delivery disappear for six over the top.

Brooks was the first to reach his half century, followed by Hope not long after.

The total had reached 120 when Van Beek finally struck with an incredible caught and bowled: Brooks out for 60. One ball later Nkrumah Bonner was out LBW. Pooran survived the hattrick-ball.

It seemed that there was still quite a bit of work to be done as the West Indies had to make 107 off 17. However, Shai Hope and Brandon King stepped on the accelerator and were never confronted with an unattainable required run rate. Hope achieved a fantastic century in the 37th over and the 100 partnership came in the 42nd.

After the temporary upset caused by Van Beek and Dutt, the West Indies quickly took the initiative again. They didn't get into any more trouble and completed the perfect run chase in the 44th. Brandon King picked up his half century with a strike rate of more than 113.

The Netherlands were much more competitive than in the last two encounters, although they were a long time ago. There were dozens of positives, both batting and bowling as well as fielding: the innings of Nidamanuru and Singh, the groundfielding, the bowling of Van Beek and Seelaar.

On the other hand, the question is how and with whom the Netherlands will take wickets in the remaining two matches now that hardly any chances were given away.