Fantasy Preview: Netherlands vs West Indies, 2nd ODI

After getting the better of Netherlands rather easily in the first ODI on Tuesday, Nicholas Pooran’s West Indies will be hoping to seal the three-match series at the VRA Cricket Ground in Amstelveen, where the two sides will collide in the second game of the series. In the first ODI, Netherlands, after losing the toss, posted a respectable 240, but a fine century from Shai Hope propelled the visitors to a convincing seven-wicket victory. The Netherlands are currently bottom of the ODI Super League with just 2 wins in 11 matches, and have lost each of their last 5 ODIs. Come Thursday, The Men in Orange will be desperate to get a ‘W’ on the board.

Ground Details

The first ODI between Netherlands and West Indies saw a total of 489 runs being scored across 88 overs, so it will be fair to expect another mid-to-high scoring encounter in the second ODI on Thursday. In the first game, there were no demons on the wicket, and it largely proved to be completely flat. There was little purchase for both pacers and spinners, and the bowlers had to toil really hard to get wickets. Quite remarkably, among the 14 batters who batted in the first ODI, only three failed to pass double digits. On Tuesday, pacers took a larger proportion of wickets (60%), but it was the spinners who proved to be economical, conceding at 4.5 runs per over compared to the 6 of the quicker bowlers. In fact, left-arm spinners Pieter Seelar and  Akeal Hosein proved to be really hard to put away; between them, the duo bowled 18 overs and conceded just 65. Overcast conditions might assist seam a little early on, but expect spinners to control the rate. 

Suggested Team

Captain selection

Following a string of low scores in the format, Shai Hope roared back to form in the first ODI by notching up his 11th ODI century. He is our suggested captain, because if there’s one thing Hope has been very good at doing, in his career, it’s backing up tons with big scores. Since 2019, the following have been Hope’s scores immediately after scoring a ton: 102*, 78, 51 and 84. He’s a run-machine, so rest easy and make him your skipper.

Our Criclytics player projector predicts Hope to score between 31 and 47 in the second ODI

X-factors

Hope’s counterpart, Vikramjit Singh, has been in fine form in the 50-over format too. Vikramjit, in the first ODI, fell 3 short of his fifty, but ended with the second-highest score for the Dutch. The opener showed good spark in the series against New Zealand, posting 19, 31 and 25, and Thursday might just be the day when he goes on and gets a big score. Certainly, it’s worth taking a punt on him.

Our Criclytics player projector predicts Vikramjit to score 39-59 runs in the second ODI

Teja Nidamanuru made it to Netherlands’ starting XI for his bowling, but the off-spinner played a blistering knock with the bat in the first ODI. Batting at No.6, Nidamanuru smashed an unbeaten 51-ball 58 to take Netherlands to a respectable total. In the form he is in, it is worth gambling on the all-rounder to come good once again.

Kyle Mayers did not get the chance to bat in the first ODI, but the all-rounder, nevertheless, impacted the game with ball in hand. Mayers bowled 9 overs, and finished with figures of 2/50. He bowled a maiden, and also took the big wicket of Bas de Leede. He is guaranteed to impact the game with the ball come Thursday, and might end up striking a few lusty blows with the bat too.

Our Criclytics player projector predicts Mayers to score 22-34 runs and take 0-1 wickets in the second ODI

Probable XIs

Netherlands: Max ODowd, Vikramjit Singh, Musa Ahmed, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards (wk), Pieter Seelaar (c), Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Ryan Klein, Vivian Kingma

West Indies: Shai Hope (wk), Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Nicholas Pooran (c), Brandon King, Keacy Carty, Kyle Mayers, Alzarri Joseph, Anderson Phillip, Hayden Walsh, Akeal Hosein