Brief scores: West Indies 308-5 (Mayers 120, Brooks 101, Dutt 1/44) beat Netherlands 288 all out in 49.5 overs (O’Dowd 89, Singh 54, Lewis 3/67) by 20 runs

Another day, another brush with history but it wasn’t to be for the Dutch men’s cricketers.

Half-centuries and career-best scores from Dutch openers Max O’Dowd and Vikramjit Singh were not enough as the Netherlands came close to chasing down 309 but ultimately fell short by 20 runs in the third One Day International in Amstelveen.

Maiden ODI centuries from player-of-the-match Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks backed up by a collective bowling performance sealed a 3-0 whitewash series for the touring West Indian team in what was their first visit to the Netherlands in 31 years.

Netherlands 288 All Out

West Indies won by 20 runs and take the https://t.co/WHklxvJHwF series 3-0 🏆 https://t.co/Ca5S06PSDu pic.twitter.com/O8Fdz5XFNK

— Cricket🏏Netherlands (@KNCBcricket) June 4, 2022

The men in Oranje were left to rue their dearth of power-hitting options in the middle-overs as they absorbed too many dot balls with the middle order batters managing just five boundaries and two sixes between them in the face of increasing required run-rate.

‘Max O’Dowd batted consistently well throughout the series and so did Vikram Singh but there was a lack of support from the middle-order,’ conceded skipper Pieter Seelaar after the game. ‘20 runs is a big margin. We lost it between the 35th-40th over phase. We didn’t want to chase 100-odd in the last 10 overs. We wanted to chase 80.’

Having won the toss and electing to bat first, West Indies openers Shai Hope and Kyle Mayers, the latter promoted to open, made good use of a fresh batting surface to regularly find the boundaries. After Hope was dismissed, caught off Bas de Leede for 24, Mayers and Brooks put on a mammoth 194-run partnership for the second wicket.

However, the Dutch spinners endured a luckless phase in which they managed to create four opportunities but none going their way. Brooks survived two LBW calls, given out but overturned on referral. Mayers, too, was the beneficiary of the ball pitching slightly outside the line of off-stump and later survived nearly being run-out.

Mayers accelerated after the 30th over, hitting 8 boundaries and 7 sixes in a knock of 120, but holed out to de Leede off Ryan Klein. The Dutch bowlers put on a stranglehold on the scoring rate thereafter as they conceded only 66 runs in the last ten overs while picking four wickets to restrict the West Indies to 308-5.

Wickets

Off-spinner Aryan Dutt (1-44) bowled with excellent control to dismiss West Indian captain Nicholas Pooran thrice in as many matches. Barring Pieter Seelaar, all frontline bowlers bagged a wicket apiece to wrestle back momentum.

In reply, Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd continued their good run of form, hitting respective fifties, in an opening stand of 98. Mayers bowled Singh with the first ball of his new spell in the 18th over but Musa Nadeem Ahmed (42) and O’Dowd rebuilt. De Leede struck 25 but fell in the 38th over with 103 runs required off 74 balls.

O’Dowd missed out on his maiden ODI century in front of home fans looking to accelerate and his dismissal precipitated a collapse as the Dutch batters failed to clear the ropes. Seelaar struck two boundaries and a six in a late flourish of boundaries but it wasn’t enough, eventually being bowled out for 288.

‘We competed in patches and today we seriously had a chance to beat the West Indies,’ said Seelaar. ‘Pretty disappointed with the result as we had a proper chance today as well as in the last game. After a tough start [with the ball], we fought back well and I think this was a game where a little bit of inexperience lost us again.’

The Netherlands next host England in Amstelveen for a three-match ODI series from June 17-22.