Amsterdam [Netherlands], June 5 (ANI): West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran is “very pleased” with his team’s performance following the ODI series win over Netherlands, and said that the team will see where they stand in the series against Pakistan.
The duo of Kyle Mayers (120) and Shamarh Brooks (101*) shined with the bat while Shemron Lewis (3/67) did the damage with the ball as the Dutch fell 20-runs short of a win despite half-centuries from openers Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd. With this win, the Windies have whitewashed the series 3-0.
“Very pleased with this new team, the first time as a captain. We go to Pakistan now and see where we stand. I want to see myself before as well but love the way the guys have performed with their opportunities, the two debutants performed well and the spinners have bowled well,” said Pooran in a post-match presentation.
“Today the guys took on the challenge, we stuck to our plans and we came up on top. First time coming to Amsterdam, surprised with the crowd, we have got fans not only from the Caribbean but all over the world, really happy to play in front of this crowd,” he added.
West Indies’ tour of Pakistan starts from June 8 onwards and will feature three-one-dayers. These ODIs were a part of the series held between both sides last year in December but were postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the West Indies camp.
Coming to the match, opting to bat first, West Indies got off a solid start, with openers Shai Hope and Kyle Mayers forming a 58-run stand that lasted for around 12 overs. It was broken by Bas de Leede who sent back Hope to the pavilion for 24.
Shamarh Brooks, the next man in started a carnage with his partner Mayers. The duo unleashed a well-calculated assault on the Dutch bowling attack. Both the batters completed their centuries. The 184-run stand between the duo was broken after pacer Ryan Klein sent back Mayer to the pavilion for a well-made 120 off 106. The next victim was Nicholas Pooran. The skipper continued his poor run with the bat in the series, getting out for 7 via LBW to a spinner Aryan Dutt’s delivery.
The rest of the Windies batters could not really do much, ending the innings at 308/5 with Brooks (101*) and Nkrumah Bonner (19*).
Aryan Dutt was the pick of the bowlers for his side, getting 1/44. Leede, Klein, Vivian Kingma and Logan van Beek also got one wicket each.
Chasing 309, the Netherlands were off a brilliant start with openers Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd putting a 98-run stand for the first wicket. The stand was broken by Mayers, who sent back Singh for a well-made 54.
Musa Ahmed, the next man in, also batted well and took forward the momentum given by the openers before the spinner Hayden Walsh dismissed him for a well-made 42.
O’Dowd continued to play well and seemed to stitch a valuable stand with Bas de Leede, but the 42-run stand was broken by spinner Akeal Hosein after Leede’s dismissal for 25. O’Dowd followed him to the pavilion soon, falling eleven runs short of his century. The Dutch were now 239/4 in 43 overs.
With the equation down to 70 in the last seven overs, the Dutch needed to maintain some calculated, careful aggression in these final overs. Wicketkeeper Scott Edwards (18), Logan van Beek (15), and captain Pieter Seelaar (16) tried to win it for their side but ultimately fell 2-runs short as wickets kept tumbling for the Dutch and they lose their next six wickets within for just 49 runs.
Windies clinched their first-ever series under Pooran with this win. Shermon Lewis’s pace was lethal and he emerged as the pick of the bowlers, taking 3/67. Other than him, Akeal Hosein (2/52) and Hayden Walsh (2/54) were also standout bowlers for the Windies.
Mayers got the ‘Man of the Match’ award for his brilliant 120-run knock and spell of 1/31. (ANI)
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