Fantasy Preview: Netherlands vs West Indies, 1st ODI

The Netherlands and West Indies will be involved in a three-match One-Day International series in Amsterdam starting on Tuesday (May 31). These three games will be part of the World Cup Super League, where the Netherlands and West Indies are currently placed 13th and 10th respectively. This is the first time these two will be playing an ODI since February 2011. The Netherlands have only played two 50-over encounters against West Indies and have lost both of them by massive margins - 10 wickets and 215 runs respectively.

Ground details and team combination

The VRA Cricket Ground is going to host the entire series. There has been no ODI played at this venue since August 2018 but it did host a couple of T20Is in 2019. There are hardly any data available on how the surface will react, so it would be ideal to go with a balanced unit, filled with in-form players. The two sides will be without some of their key players. The Men in Maroon won’t have Jason Holder, Shimron Hetmyer and Evin Lewis, while the Netherlands will only have only one of their county-contracted players available.

Team selection

While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Then, based on your preferences, the platform will guide you through creating the ideal fantasy XI. 

Captain 

Shai Hope has been one of the most consistent batters for West Indies in the 50-over format. In ODIs since 2021, the wicketkeeper-batter has scored 449 runs in his last 11 innings at an average of just over 40. In fact, no other West Indies batter has scored more runs than Hope in this period. The 28-year-old didn’t have a great series against India but you could expect him to return back to his best against the Netherlands.

Our Criclytics player projector predicts Hope will score 12-18 runs in this match.

X-factors

Amongst the top-10 ODI teams, no other bowler has claimed more wickets than Alzarri Joseph since 2020. The tall paceman has taken 40 wickets in his last 21 ODIs and he has done that at an average of 21.6 and a strike rate of 28.8. The 25-year-old has gone wicketless only once in his last 13 ODIs. 

Our Criclytics player projector predicts Joseph to pick up 1-2 wickets in this match.

Fred Klaassen is Netherlands’ leading wicket-taker in this format since 2020. The left-arm seamer has claimed 15 wickets in his last nine ODIs, operating at an average of 21.5 and a strike rate of 32.8. The 29-year-old will once again be expected to lead Netherlands’ bowling attack.

Our Criclytics player projector predicts Klaassen to pick up 0-1 wicket in this match.

Squads

Netherlands - Pieter Seelaar (c), Scott Edwards (wk), Shariz Ahmad, Logan van Beek, Philippe Boissevain, Aryan Dutt, Clayton Floyd, Fred Klaassen, Vivian Kingma, Ryan Klein, Bas de Leede, Musa Nadeem Ahmed, Teja Nidamanuru, Max O'Dowd, Vikram Singh, Antonius Staal.

West Indies - Nicholas Pooran (c), Shai Hope (vc), Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Keacy Carty, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Shermon Lewis, Kyle Mayers, Anderson Phillip, Rovman Powell, Jayden Seales, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh Jr.