The Dutch slip in front of a stellar Windies power-packed show but not without a fight!

The Netherlands can be - and must be - proud of the way they contested a well-known identity in the ODI arena, a side that was considered a true force back in the day.

It's easy to approach a game on paper, plotting strategies on what you ought to do, but something quite another to muscle your way as you lock horns against a side like the West Indies.

In none of the three ODIs could one say that the Netherlands were completely outplayed in all departments of the game?

They were, and reality bites hard the West Indian fan, far more disciplined with the bowling in the first two games of the series barring the third; they bowled just 5 extras in the opening ODI of the series and 8 fewer than the Windies in the second game.

Their opening stands were solid, if not prolific and offered a way for the rest of the team to score runs, even if the lesson wasn't really learnt all that well.

Take the 2nd ODI into consideration: the Dutch were 101 when they lost their first wicket, whilst the West Indies were 2 for 35 by the time the ninth over was almost complete.

Their array of spinners- young, focused and determined- offer fresh hope that the Dutch spin bowling is in really good hands; just how many would've thought that a batter of Pooran's calibre would be usurped by spin in each of the three contests?

Yet, where the hosts faltered was perhaps in the department of experience; the Windies performed much better in converting starts into promising hundreds, none of which Seelaar's side brought to the fore.

But with every series, there are lessons, and one can be sure that the Netherlands have thoroughly examined theirs as they brought curtains to the contests by playing yet another game with all their might and purpose.

So what key moments stood out from the final game?

Shamarh Brooks proves his mettle yet again

Shamarh Brooks first made headlines for his batting when back in 2019, he scored a dogged Test ton in India against Afghanistan. It was a line-up that featured the biggies, including Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. He'd then be drafted as a number three in the ODI's by a team that so often misses out on big key players for some reason or the other.

But the series that really brought Brooks into the main fray of headlines was the ODI's contested against the touring Irish earlier this year.

This is where the batsman, usually considered apt for the Test level, proved his worth in 50-over cricket by scoring a vital 93. This would turn out to be the only contest the West Indies won in a series, which they lost much to the shock and chagrin of fans all over the world.

But ever since his famous ODI fifty against Ireland, the elegant right-hander had been looking for an opportunity to touch the three-figure mark.

Finally, as the 33-year-old reached what he'd been searching for thousands of miles away from the cosy comfort of playing in the Caribbean, he can be proud of having done a fantastic job.

Implicit in his ODI career-best of 101 off 115 deliveries were the fluent lofted strokes over long-off against the Dutch spinners; they'd do little to disarm Shamarh Brooks' focus.

Arriving in the middle at the halfway stage of the twelfth over, Brooks batted and batted on until the end of the innings for his side, which gave ample evidence of his ability to bat for long periods of time.

And while many do that in international cricket, it's not always that they score runs.

That one of the Windies' quiet and unassuming characters scored a ton whilst he hung around was the cherry topping on the cake.

His task, however, now will be only more challenging; the West Indies will expect the man they've slotted in at three, at least for now, to come big in what promises to be a fascinating series against Pakistan.

Kyle Mayers' maiden ODI ton

From scoring a whirlwind and record-breaking double ton in Test cricket (Bangladesh, 2020) to breaking England's spine in the Caribbean Tests courtesy a brilliant fifer, to being drafted in as a T20I opener in the series against India in 2022, where he hit some memorable strokes, Kyle Mayers has proved to be ubiquitous for his West Indies cricket.

Yet, what's remarkable is that for someone whose batting position is yet to be fixed in ODI's, the left-hander having been slotted in at 4, 5 as well as 6, Kyle Mayers notched up a maiden century as an opener.

And in so doing, Mayers outscored big names on the limited-overs side, such as Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran.

What Mayers most remarkably did in this series is that he broke conventional, rigid mindsets that may have doubted his batting in the final game of the series.

By hitting a famous hundred, a first for the Bridgetown-born, Mayers served a reality check to most of us who thought that the left-hander, out caught in the second ODI by the keeper for a banal 22, was lacking the touch.

Instead, he erupted in the final contest, sending bowlers to all parts of the Amstelveen in a leather hunt as he fired 7 sixes on the way to a career-defining 120.

For someone who's already proven he's no mug with the bat when it comes to handling spin, scoring extensively in the 2020 Bangladesh Tests against the likes of Nayeem, Taijul and Mehidy, Mayers has only upped his game against medium-pacers from that time.

And on June 4, 2022, he demonstrated much of that by freeing his arms and flexing his muscles as he took on established front line seamers such as Kingma, van Beek and Klein.

But the West Indies, who've already seen Mayers make valiant runs against established sides such as Sri Lanka (4 Tests and 284 runs), will need him to bring his A-game to the middle as his team readies to face another sub-continental thrasher in Pakistan.

Can the Mayers as we know them- big-hitting, free-stroking, unafraid- play his natural game?

Nicholas Pooran's miserable run

Nicholas Pooran's horrid run with the series ended with another single-digit score. Interestingly, it would be an exact repeat of what the Windies captain managed in the first ODI: 7.

You read that right. All of 7 runs. 

Having scored 24 runs from 3 games, which doing simple schoolboy math suggests Pooran managed an average of 8 shows the depths to which Pooran failed and that too against a host many wouldn't be intimidated by.

When's he planning to score runs? We don't know. But what's known is that the left-hander from Trinidad will really need to rectify his horrible game against spin.

Vikramjit Singh, the brightest star in the Dutch batting galaxy

One of the finest and most capable talents in the Dutch team, Vikramjit Singh proved to be a standout Dutch bat in the just-concluded series.

Vikramjit, the unafraid left-hander who backs himself to go for his shots, had entered the series hunting for his maiden career fifty for the Netherlands in ODI cricket.

But as he exits the 3-match ODI series, he'd be happy at having officially opened his account where the half-century column is concerned.

While he got fine starts in each of the two games of the series, scoring 47 and 46, Singh notched up an exciting, stroke-filled 54 in the 3rd ODI.

In doing so, he got The Netherlands off to a flier and not for the first time this series.

Among the shots that stood out was his simple dab to the third man boundary on a slightly widish delivery by Keacy Carty, which proved that the left-hander, known for his aggressive strokes, also had the touch of class about him.

He'd also lift Akeal Hosein, arguably the best spinner on the Windies circuit, for back-to-back fours towards long on.

One wonders if Vikramjit, who had much time on his hands before he got out, had reached the three-figure mark had he continued to bat along? The left-hander struck 18 fours and 4 sixes on the whole in this series against an opponent he had never met before in an ODI contest.