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LOGAN van Beek’s super over heroics led Netherlands to a famous win over West Indies, who suffered their second consecutive ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 defeat at Takashinga Cricket Club yesterday.
Van Beek struck 30 with the bat before taking the ball and conceding just eight, leading his side to a victory which saw them finish second in Group A and take two valuable points into the Super Six stage.
A Harare thriller saw both sides finish on 374 from their 50 overs, at which point van Beek took centre stage.
Having fallen to the final ball of the regular innings for a 14-ball 28 with just a single required, the all-rounder struck three sixes and three fours from the super over bowled by Jason Holder.
Holder had earlier held a brilliant catch to dismiss van Beek and force the unlikely tie but the Dutchman then seized control, removing Johnson Charles and Romario Shepherd with consecutive balls following his fireworks with the bat to decide the outcome. The Windies started strongly with the bat after being put in as openers Johnson Charles and Brandon King (76) added 101 before the former was trapped lbw for 54.
Saqib Zulfiqar dismissed Sharmah Brooks (25) and King (76) in consecutive overs before another century stand, this time between Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran, ended when Hope was caught on the rope looking to bring up a half-century with a maximum.
Pooran brought up his second consecutive century before kicking on with Keemo Paul as the Windies hammered 61 off the last five overs.
Netherlands openers Vikramjit Singh (37) and Max O’Dowd (36) added 71 inside 10 overs in reply but Roston Chase dismissed both as West Indies fought back.
Wesley Barresi (27) and Bas de Leede (33) kept Netherlands on track and after both were removed by Akeal Hosein, Teja Nidamanuru and captain Scott Edwards put on 143 from just 15 overs to set up a frantic finish.
Edwards (67) was first to go and the game was back in the balance when centurion Nidamanuru (111) picked out Chase at third man.
Aryan Dutt (16) and van Beek took the equation to five from as many balls but Joseph took two wickets at the death to force a super over. Van Beek made no mistake at the second time of asking to lead his side to a momentous victory following their highest-ever ODI score.
“I do not really know, I cannot really explain it at the moment,” said Van Beek.
“We wanted to do something special. To watch Scotty and Teja out there, the more they batted, the more we believed.
“I have been playing for a long time. The amount of games I have lost from those situations; it was just satisfying to get across the line. I just backed my skill – if you miss, I am going to hit it. I was pretty disappointed with the last ball that I chunked it to mid-on.
“Thankful that I got a little bit of redemption. (On his approach when he came out to bat) I thought I wanted to give myself a chance and when that 49th over came, I wanted to go after it.
“It’s a massive win. The culture that we have built and the learnings we have taken through the last 18-19 months. Now we have a chance to go to the World Cup in India and that is really huge.” — ICC Cricket/Sports Reporter
Online Reporter