Shai shows Hope; new boys Vikramjit, Nidamanuru shine as Dutch met Windies

The West Indies did manage to somehow, and perhaps by the skin of their teeth, beat the Netherlands. And even as their victory comes by a margin of seven wickets with eleven deliveries to spare, which is no mean feat, you ought to spare a thought.

Spare a thought for The Dutch. 

For the hosts had the victors huffing and puffing at one stage. 

In what was the first ever ODI contest between a bastion of excellence whom world cricket once feared back in the past and a side that is still finding its rhythm in the white ball format, cricket emerged a winner. 

And that was down to a multitude of reasons belonging to excellence and notable performances on both fronts: the West Indies' as well as on the Dutchmen's end. 

Notable performances by the Dutch bowlers

If there was ever an instance where one needed to assess the agility and reflexes of the Netherlands bowlers, then nothing could be quite better than rewinding- and time and again- to the very dismissal of rising ODI talent Shamarh Brooks. 

The quintessentially elegant right-hander had been going strong, having hit a fluent fifty and ensured Windies were well on their way to chase down the target, which is when van Beek burst into the moment. 

In taking an excellent return catch off his own bowling, the 31-year-old New Zealand born Dutch cricketer affected the first dismissal by grabbing a mistimed pull by Brooks that landed straight into the right arm seamer's hands. 

From being 120 for no less to suddenly curbing the Windies' scoring rate inside 24 overs, van Beek opened an end, at least for his side. 

But he wasn't done just yet; it was merely the beginning. The Dutch fired another salvo by sending none other than the dependable Bonner back to the hut for a first-ball-duck, hurling a quicker one around the top of middle and leg that the right-hander was just not able to pick. 

An LBW resultantly followed. 

Later on, despite Hope holding on to an end, there was yet more damage as Pooran, unsure and unsettled, unlike his usual self, found his stumps rattled by Dutt's spin. 

He'd only just survived a close LBW call minutes before. 

For all they did and did so diligently on the field, the Netherlands bowlers deserve every bit of our appreciation for putting on a fight. 

Debutant Nidamanuru's fine act

Hailing from Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh, representing the Dutch, and debuting against the West Indies, right-handed batter Teja Nidamanuru, in some ways, represents yet another success story of globalisation in the sport. 

Your debut game can almost always give you raw nerves. Not that this was the case with the 27-year-old big hitting lad, who ended up scoring a 58-off-51 for the Dutch. 

For someone who boasts a List-A average of 14, perhaps there may not have been many who'd have expected Nidamanuru to go big in his maiden ODI outing. 

The classic rule of cricket is - you never say never, right? 

With a flurry of good looking strokes down the leg side and making most of some absurd attempts down in the outfield by the Windies fielders, the lad new-to-the-international-circuit hardly looked tense as he helped the Dutch compile a diligent score that they didn't seem capable of reaching at one stage. 

May he score many more for the enterprising Netherlands side. 

The top order belligerence by Vikramjit Singh

Never undermine a cricketer with roots in India, or should we say, an international athlete playing for a noted European side with roots in India, a crazed cricket culture? 

Regardless, the Dutch eventually reached a sturdy and perhaps even sufficient-looking 240 on the board was down to Singh's fluent knock. 

That he scored nearly a sixth of the side's overall score was the reward of his application and bold approach against an attack that consisted of no mugs with the ball when you think of talents like Alzarri Joseph and Akeal Hosein. 

Severe to anything bowled short and confident of hitting the odd one pitched in his arc, the left-hander showed guts to go big when perhaps it was cautiousness that many reckoned he should've exhibited. 

This allowed the Netherlands to pile on early pressure over an unsuspecting opponent that had just no clue of what was to come. 

Vikramjit Singh's 47 off just 45 was a critical component to the fight his side were able to offer an established entity in world cricket. 

How good was Akeal Hosein today

If you were to remove the name of Hosein, for instance, from the Windies bowling lineup, one's not sure which bowlers might have looked even remotely challenging to the Dutch. 

Conceding too many runs and a touch too easily, bowling several extras and often let down by sloppy fielding, the Windies' bowling was anything but sound. 

While you could cut some slack to newcomer Phillip, the likes of Mayers, in his second spell and Walsh, in his first spell, looked ordinary, unimaginative even. 

Much of what the Windies were able to achieve in the middle overs, and they did quite a bit by pushing back the Dutch scoring, was all thanks to the unassuming Hosein. 

A Trinidadian who goes about doing his job with much regard for economy, a key principle for any spinner, Akeal Hosein is a smart customer in the white ball game. 

He's someone the Windies would not want to lose out on and should further invest in. 

His terrific spell of 29 for 2 from 9 overs helped the Windies put pressure on Dutch scoring at a time when Musa and O'Dowd were settling in and could simply have snatched the momentum away from the visitors. 

Helping his team accumulate one dot ball too many, Hosein didn't wary his pace all that much in this first ODI and simply stuck to bowling that classic wicket-to-wicket line, which ultimately helped him. 

Shai Hope saves the day

For someone who we tend to forget scored no fewer than 1,345 runs back in 2019, which is when he experienced a purple patch

that continued until 2021, Hope's recent form had been uncharacteristically poor. 

Prior to arriving in The Netherlands, he was able to collect just 139 runs from this year. This included 6 ODIs- 3 each against India and Ireland. 

Surely, it was about time that the batsman in the classical mould did something to hit back form and dodge the rough  

patch that had begun to malign what's been an outstanding ODI career thus far. 

Maybe he needed some motivation. Or who knows some change in weather in the lighter vein.

Whatever it is, one's glad that Shai finally offered hope and did plenty of that by hitting a match-winning hundred. 

That a majority of Windies' 249 runs came from the shining blade of Hope, responsible for 119 on his own, was a fervent example of a fine batsman finding lost touch. 

The gentle nudges, the classical cover drives and even the stand-and-deliver six, particularly during the end overs of the chase, were exceedingly bright. 

They offered the promise the Windies needed from someone who's done well up top and must hold the team in good stead for the games to follow. 

Whether Shai Hope flops or goes big ahead, it could be said, his maiden ton versus the Dutch has set the perfect tone for the series. It's up to the rest of the team to build on from here and go for the win.