FANTASY
Follow UsNetherlands and Ireland are set to be involved in a three-match One-Day International series at the Sportpark Maarschalkerweerd in Utrecht. The first ODI will be played on Wednesday (June 2), while the remaining two encounters will be played on Friday and Monday. This will be Netherlands' first game of the ODI Super League, which will decide who goes through to the 2023 World Cup.
The Pieter Seelaar-led side recently played two ODIs against Scotland. They won the first ODI by 14 runs but lost the second one by six wickets. Timm van der Gugten, Fred Klaassen and Brandon Glover were released by their respective counties and will feature in the series but Shane Snater, Ryan ten Doeschate, Roelof van der Merwe and Colin Ackermann didn't get the permission.
Meanwhile, this will be Ireland's first ODI since January 2021. They have recalled George Dockrell, William Porterfield and Graeme McCarter to their squad, while all-rounders Curtis Campher (ankle injury) and Gareth Delany (knee injury) have been ruled out of the series. Ireland have included the uncapped legspinner Ben White as a replacement for Delany.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Overall - 10 | Ireland – 7 Wins | Netherlands – 1 Win | Tied 1 and NR 1
SUGGESTED TEAMS
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms, we have come up with one team.
GROUND DETAILS AND TEAM COMBINATION
The Sportpark Maarschalkerweerd in Utrecht has hosted two Men's T20Is but is yet to host a Men's ODI. Germany and Italy played two T20Is in May 2019 and that's it. There are no data available of the domestic games that have been played at this venue, so it would be ideal to go with a balanced unit. Both Netherlands and Ireland have got quite a few solid fast bowlers, while Simi Singh, George Dockrell, Andy McBrine and Philippe Boissevain are the spinners available.
Simi and McBrine are Ireland's leading wicket-takers in ODIs since 2020 and along with Dockrell can all chip in with the bat. Ireland also have enough experience in their batting line-up. The likes of Paul Stirling, Andy Balbirnie, Harry Tector and Kevin O'Brien are all match-winners, while the Netherlands have got Stephan Myburgh, Pieter Seelaar and in-form Max O'Dowd.
We have gone with five frontline batsmen, including the wicketkeeper, and six bowling options. Out of those six, four are quite handy with the bat.
CAPTAIN
Paul Stirling is unarguably Ireland's best white-ball batsman. The right-handed opener has slammed 1351 runs in his last 24 ODI innings at a stunning average of 58.74. The 30-year-old has smoked five centuries since 2019, out of which four have come in his last six innings. He smacked 142 against England in Southampton in August 2020 and then followed it up with 131* against the UAE. In his last two innings, Stirling scored 118 and 128 against Afghanistan. And, if needed, he could also fetch you some crucial points with the ball in hand.
X-FACTORS
George Dockrell hasn't played an ODI since May 2019 but the 28-year-old has forced his way back into Ireland's squad by scoring heavily for Leinster Lightning in the Inter-Provincial Limited-Over Cup. The left-arm spinner is still Ireland's second-highest wicket-taker in all international cricket, but Dockrell has now transformed himself into a batting all-rounder. The right-hander slammed 364 runs at an average of 121.33 and a strike rate of 87.92 in this year's Inter-Provincial games and will be high on confidence ahead of the series.
Max O'Dowd is slowly becoming Netherlands' most reliable batsman. The right-handed opener has only featured in four ODIs but already has three fifties to his name. He recently hit 82 in the first ODI against Scotland in May, and prior to that, he hammered an unbeaten 133 off just 73 balls against Malaysia and became the first Netherlands batsman to smash a century in T20Is. The Auckland-born player is only the second batsman after Tom Cooper (who also plays for the Netherlands) to score three fifties in his first three ODIs.
Vivian Kingma has been in pretty good form of late. Head coach Ryan Campbell heaped heavy praise on the right-arm seamer after his performance against Scotland. The 26-year-old picked up five wickets in two ODIs against Scotland and also did well against Ireland A, dismissing the likes of Harry Tector and Curtis Campher.