 "CWC Qualifier Day 9: The Logan van Beek show powered by Teja Nidamanuru")
It was a magnificent Monday in Harare as historic feats were achieved by Zimbabwe and the Netherlands. The Netherlands beat the West Indies in a super-over thriller at the Takashinga Sports Club ground while the hosts thrashed the USA by 304 runs at Harare Sports Club to finish the proceedings in Group A at the Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
Pooran hundred powers Windies to 374
West Indies recorded their third-highest ODI total in history when they reached 374/6 in their 50 overs. After being asked to bat first, the Men in Maroon got to a flyer courtesy 101 run stand for the opening wicket between Bradon King and Johnson Charles. However, it was the Nicholas Pooran innings that changed things drastically.
Pooran scored his second hundred of the tournament after coming to bat at number five. He hit an unbeaten 104 off just 65 balls to take his team from 163/3 in 28.1 overs to 374/6 in 50.
Teja Nidamanuru: The Dutch swashbuckler
The target of 375 was an Everest to climb for the Netherlands and they showed the willpower to do it. The openers Vikramjeet Singh and Max O’Dowd added 76 for the first wicket. However, four wickets fell in the span of the next 94 runs and the Dutch chase seemed going downhill.
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Teja Nidamanuru and Dutch skipper Scott Edwards got together and added 143 runs for the fifth wicket to take their team close to the target. But with three quick wickets, which included both Edwards and Nidamanuru alongside Saqib Zulfiqar, West Indies made a mini comeback. Nidamanuru hit his second ODI hundred, scoring 111 off just 76 balls. Thanks to this hundred, Nidamanuru has become only the second Dutch player after Ryan ten Doeschate to hit more than one ODI century.
Logan van Beek: One-man army
After Nidamanuru’s wicket, the Netherlands were seven down for 327 and still needed 48 runs off the remaining four overs. Logan van Beek started to clobber the Windies' bowlers. He took 21 from the 49th over by Roston Chase to bring the target down to 9 from the last over.
After hitting a four off the first ball in the 50th over, van Beek got a single and was away from strike for the next two balls. He took two on the fifth ball. With one needed off the last, van Beek tried to hit over the in-filed, but was caught by Jason Holder at short mid-wicket with the match ending in a tie. The Dutch all-rounder scored 28 off just 14 balls to give his team another shot at winning the game.
In the super over, van Beek was sent alongside Edwards with Nidamanuru slated to come at number three. On strike against Holder, van Beek hit 4, 6, 4, 6, 6, 4 to take 30 runs from one over, the highest total in a super over in cricket history. To defend the runs he scored, van Beek was handed the ball. Bowling brilliantly, the 32-year-old New Zealand born gave just eight runs and took two wickets to win the game for his team single-handedly in the super over.
Zimbabwe thrash the USA by 304 runs
In another game, hosts Zimbabwe reached their highest ODI total after scoring 408/6 against the USA. Sean Williams, the stand-in captain hit a gigantic hundred (174) to power his team to a mammoth score.
Zimbabwe wasted no time in bowling out the visitors for a mere 104 and win the game by 304 runs. This is the second-biggest victory margin (by runs) in ODIs after India’s 317-run win against Sri Lanka in January 2023.
Courtesy of the two results, Zimbabwe topped the group with four wins while the Netherlands ended at the second position with three wins. West Indies finished third with just two wins against minnows USA and Nepal. All these three teams now move to the super-six where they will play against Sri Lanka, Scotland and Oman to finish in the top two and qualify for the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023.