After being given 375 to win, Nidamanuru’s 76-ball 111 helped Netherlands draw the game.
West Indies 374 for 6 (Pooran 104*, King 76, Zulfiqar 2-43) tied with Netherlands 374 for 9 (Nidamanuru 111, Edwards 67, Chase 3-77). The Netherlands triumphed in the Super Over.
“I really can’t explain it,” remarked Player of the Match Logan van Beek. The Netherlands, chasing 375 against the West Indies, were in big difficulty with 205 needed from the final 125 balls and only six wickets in hand. Who knew they’d wind up with 204 of them in a frantic finale that would send the game into a Super Over?
And if you thought that was enough excitement for the day, van Beek smashed the record for most runs in a one-over eliminator with 4, 6, 4, 6, 6, 4. West Indies responded by losing two wickets for eight runs. The Netherlands earned two crucial points into the World Cup Qualifier Super Six, leaving West Indies with nothing to carry ahead following defeats by both the Netherlands and Zimbabwe. The two-time World Cup champions are now on the verge of elimination, with their chances of qualifying for the World Cup proper dangling by a thread.
Teja Nidamanuru and his skipper Scott Edwards made the finish feasible before van Beek played like a free spirit, adding 143 for the fifth wicket to offer Netherlands hope in the most hopeless of situations. That stand only required 90 deliveries. West Indies, on the other hand, surged back, taking 3 for 14 in a flash to leave the Netherlands requiring 30 from the final two overs.
Van Beek was standing at the crease. Roston Chase delivered the first three legal balls of the 49th over, which went for 4, 6, 4. Nine out of six balls were required. Van Beek added four more. But there was a catch. He swiped to mid-on with one to go from the final ball, when Jason Holder dove to his right to capture the ball. It would be awarded only after the third umpire confirmed that Alzarri Joseph had not overstepped his bounds.
West Indies centurion Nicholas Pooran organized the game. Pooran added 108 with Shai Hope for the fourth wicket in less than 13 overs after half-centuries from Brandon King and Johnson Charles built a solid foundation.
Pooran was on 7 out of 17 at one point. In the 35th over, he hit Saqib Zulfiqar for four and six. He targeted the same bowler again in the 39th over with a six and four, before hitting his fifty in the 40th over with another run of boundaries off Vivian Kingma.
The West Indies contributed 118 runs in the final 10 overs. Pooran hit his second century of the World Cup Qualifier in the penultimate over before Keemo Paul took over, dismissing Aryan Dutt for 20 in the last over to help West Indies reach 374. Who knew that wouldn’t be enough?The West Indies contributed 118 runs in the final 10 overs. Pooran hit his second century of the World Cup Qualifier in the penultimate over before Keemo Paul took over, dismissing Aryan Dutt for 20 in the last over to help West Indies reach 374. Who knew that wouldn’t be enough?
