Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks hit their maiden ODI centuries as West Indies beat Netherlands by 20 runs in the third ODI to seal a 3-0 series win.
After electing to bat first, West Indies decided to make a change in their batting order.
Kyle Mayers was asked to open alongside Shai Hope. This change certainly did wonders for the visitors.
Shai Hope and Kyle Mayers put on 58 runs together before losing Hope in the 12th over.
Post that, Shamarh Brooks walked in and he along with Kyle Mayers stitched a partnership of 184 runs and guided West Indies close to a score of 250.
However, Kyle Mayers notched his maiden century and perished soon after that.
Shamarh Brooks went on till the end and he too scored a sublime ton and made sure to get West Indies across the 300-run mark.
There were a few cameos in the middle, and that eventually helped West Indies to set a target of 309.
But the first innings certainly belonged only to two people, Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks.
Then, despite half-centuries from Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd, the Windies managed to bowl Netherlands out for 288, with debutant Shermon Lewis picking three wickets and Akeal Hosein and Hayden Walsh Jr sharing two scalps each.
Netherlands threatened an upset with their openers putting on a 98-run stand, but Mayers capped off an all-round performance with the first wicket for West Indies.
O’Dowd then put on another impressive stands with Musa Ahmed and Bas de Leede, but his 89-run knock went in vain as the middle order failed to stand up.
Both the teams stayed close in comparison till 37th over. The 38th over was a maiden in the Netherlands innings and it was also the time that Mayers reached his ton and unleashed an assault.
Both the teams were poor in the final 10 overs. They lacked a finisher who could’ve stepped up a gear
With the Win West Indies win the series 3-0 and got the 30-points they could from this series.
They move to the fourth spot in the table as Afghanistan won earlier today and they have a better NRR than West Indies
Speaking after the series victory, West Indies captain Pooran, said he is happy with the way the revamped squad is shaping up but stressed that the former world champions will assess where they stand when they take on Pakistan in an upcoming tour.
“Very pleased with this new team, the first time as a captain. We go to Pakistan now and see where we stand. I want to see myself before as well but love the way the guys have performed with their opportunities, the two debutants performed well and the spinners have bowled well,”
Pooran added,
“Very pleased. First time being a captain and win the series 3-0. Netherlands played wonderfully as well. I am very happy for the guys as they took the opportunity and performed well. This is a game of cricket and everything can’t go your way. Today Netherlands experienced a hard day. Am surprised with the crowd in Amsterdam. They came to watch every game.”
Akeal Hosein is the player of the series: he said
“Yeah, pretty pleased with the effort on a batting-friendly wicket. First of all, kudos to Nicky P [Pooran] for the changes he made. Whatever the team requires, I am ready to put my hand up for that”
Kyle Mayers is the player of the match :
“It was a good feeling. I got an opportunity to open the batting and it happened [the century]. It was a good experience and the wickets are good for batting. I want to make [opening] a permanent fixture. Let’s see how it goes.”