Talking Points: King shines again, Netherlands fail to finish strong and more

Brandon King
Brandon King

The win sees West Indies climb the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League table from 10th to 6th. Netherlands, on the other hand, are at the bottom with 25 points. Here are the talking points from the game:

Netherlands throw away a solid start

For two games in a row, the Netherlands' openers got the team off to a brilliant start. In the first match though, the rest of the batters contributed to get the home side to a fighting total but struggled to do so in the second match.

Vikramjit Singh and Max O'Dowd shared a solid 101-run stand for the opening wicket. However, Vikramjit fell short of his fifty for the second game in a row but O'Dowd got to his milestone.

West Indies soon clawed their way back into the game with three wickets in eight overs, including that of the openers. Thereafter, Scott Edwards was the only other batter to make a significant contribution but the rest of the line-up failed to get to double-digit scores.

Hossein climbs to the top of CWCSL bowling charts

Akeal Hossein made life difficult for the Netherlands' batters with his guile, finishing with figures of 4/39 in his four overs. The four-for takes him to the joint-top of the CWCSL bowlers' list. He shares the top spot with fellow spinner Adam Zampa of Australia and Ireland's Craig Young.

Hossein went wicketless in the first five overs of his spell but the decision to reintroduce him back into the attack did wonders. He got the big wicket of O'Dowd to put two new batters at the crease. In his very next over, he scalped Bas de Leede for an 11-ball duck.

He returned to the attack later in the game and struck once again in his first over of the new spell with a simple caught and bowled to dismiss Teja Nidamanuru. Pieter Seelaar was Hossein's fourth and final wicket, holing out in the deep in an attempt to accelerate the scoring.

Hossein's tidy spell broke the back of the Netherlands' innings and restricted them to just 214.

So close yet so far for Netherlands

Defending a below-par target of 215, Netherlands couldn't have asked for a better start with the ball. Bas de Leede and Logan van Beek were brilliant with the new ball and kept the lid on the scoring as well.

The hosts sent the openers packing in the Powerplay and had Windies on the ropes with half the side back in the hut for 99, including the big wicket of Nicholas Pooran.

However, Netherlands failed to keep the pressure on and let the game slip out of their grasp. Brandon King and Keacy Carty batted splendidly and put on a 118-run stand to take the visitors home with more than four overs to spare and sealed the series 2-0.

Brandon King grabs victory from the jaws of defeat

When Brandon King walked to the crease, West Indies were in a spot of bother at 60/4 with Pooran back in the hut for 10. He stitched a 39-run stand with Kyle Mayers before Shariz Ahmad struck to remove the latter as West Indies lost half their side for 99.

Despite being five down, King batted positively to keep the scoreboard ticking. He smashed a six and a four against Ahmed that turned the momentum in West Indies' favour. He had Carty, who was just playing his second ODI, keeping him company.

Netherlands had two chances of a run-out in the 33rd over but failed to convert it into a wicket. King got to his fifty two overs later and then took off from that point on. He finished things off in style with a six as West Indies sealed a victory with more than four overs to spare.

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