West Indies v Netherlands: ICC World Cup 2011- Chris Gayle and Kemar Roach shine
The thirteenth match of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2011 was played between West Indies and Netherlands on the 28th February, 2011 at the revamped Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780, India.
Cricket enthusiasts were enthralled by two days of exciting and dramatic games between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 on Saturday and England versus India on Sunday.
However, the crowd meter at Delhi was low.
Nevertheless, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 rose to the occasion by displaying some fine cricket to lift their chances in the ICC 2011 World Cup.
West Indian veteran batsman, Chris Gayle, and, Kemar Roach, powered their side to thrash Netherlands by a whopping 205-run margin.
Netherlands struggled to bat on a pitch that was termed conducive for batting while it was noted that spin will play a massive role in the outcome of the match. The pitch report stated that the team that will eventually win the toss should bat first.
However, the Netherlands’ skipper, Peter Borren, sprung a surprise as he decided to field first in order to cash in on the dew factor later in the evening.
The West Indies openers Devon Smith and Gayle started the innings confidently, giving their side a solid start. The pair quickly and steadily reached the three figure mark in 16.3 overs. Smith smashed nine boundaries to score 53 off 51 balls but he was stumped by wicketkeeper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wesley-Barresi-c96487, to a Bernard Loots’ delivery.
Darren Bravo then joined Gayle to construct a 68-run partnership for their side. Bravo reached 30 off 38 balls, hitting a four and two massive sixes but he played a rash stroke that was caught by Alexei Kervezee off Pieter Seelaar’s delivery.
Gayle seemed undaunted by Netherlands bowling attack as he remained poised and scored at will, hitting seven fours and two sixes. He scored 80 runs off 110 balls to steer his side to 196 runs.
But the Dutch star all-rounder, Ryan ten Douschate, gave him a shattering over and finally dismissed him in the 36.2nd over. The flamboyant batsman fell just one-run short of reaching his 8000-run mark in One Day International (ODI) cricket.
As Gayle walked back to the pavilion, Ramnaresh Sarwan, and, skipper, Kieron Pollard, played aggressively as the Caribbean Kings took the batting power play and drove their team to 261 runs in just 42 overs.
Sarwan, unfortunately, fell one run short of scoring his half century as he was clean bowled by Berend Westdijk.
However, Sarwan’s departure did not hamper Pollard’s innings as he scored 60 off just 27 balls, nailing five boundaries and four sixes.
Darren Sammy (6 runs off 6 balls) and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shivnarine-Chanderpaul-c90073 (4 runs off six balls) failed to strike a partnership with Pollard but they contributed enough to cross the 300 mark.
A late delivery by Mudassar Bukhari forced Pollard to walk back to the pavilion, but the damage was done as West Indies were on 312 for the loss of seven wickets in 47.5 overs.
However, a late flurry of runs from wicketkeeper batsman, Devon Thomas, (13 runs off 13 balls) and Miller (unbeaten at 11 runs from 7 balls) ensured the Oranje brigade were given a formidable target of 331.
Seelaar took three wickets off 45 runs and Bukhari took two wickets off 65 balls, while Westdijk and Doeschate took one wicket each.
But the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Netherlands-c753’ chase was hampered by Roach, who picked up six wickets including a hat-trick to break the backbone of the Dutch batting.
Suleiman Benn opened with the new ball as his left-arm spin troubled the Dutch openers, Kervezee (14 runs off 20 balls) and Barresi (0 off 5 balls). The second was clearly dominated by the Caribbean as the Dutch kept losing their wickets, including Doeschate’s wicket (7 off 6 balls) at regular intervals.
Netherlands were reeling on 56 runs for the loss of six wickets in 18.2 overs as Roach and Benn thrashed them. Tom http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Cooper-c51561 was the only Dutch batsman, who seemed stubborn at the crease, remaining not out at 55 off 72 balls.
Man-of-the-match Roach claimed 6 wickets for 27 runs in his 8.3 overs, finishing off the tail-enders with a stunning hat-trick, while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Benn-c47745 made the initial inroads claiming 3 wickets for 28 runs in his eight overs. West Indies skipper, Darren Sammy, picked up one wicket to finish off the Oranje brigade at 115 in 31.3 overs.
Netherlands were disappointing today as a fighting performance was expected from them after their strong performance against England in Nagpur last week.
However, the win boosted the chances for West Indies to compete against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 and England in their next group matches.
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