HARARE: Vikramjit Singh’s maiden century, paired up with Aryan Dutt’s 3/31 kept the Netherlands in contention to qualify for the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 with a statement 74-run victory over Oman in the CWC Qualifier on Monday.
Put into bat first, the Netherlands accumulated a massive total of 362/7 in a must-win CWC Qualifier match against Oman at the back of sensational knocks by Vikramjit Singh and Wesley Barresi.
The Dutch openers Vikramjit Singh and Max O’Dowd laid a solid foundation for a massive total as they raised 117 runs for the first wicket.
Their calculated opening partnership lasted in the 22nd over when Ayaan Khan finally get rid of O’Dowd, who played a cautious 35-run knock from 64 deliveries.
Singh then joined forces with Barresi and added a further 80 runs to the Netherlands’ total before perishing in the 34th over briefly after amassing his maiden ODI century, which came in 102 deliveries.
He smashed 11 boundaries and two sixes on his way to a 109-ball 110 and remained the top-scorer for the Netherlands.
Following Singh’s departure, Barresi put on a brief partnership with skipper Scott Edwards (4) before receiving subtle support at the other end in the form of Bas de Leede.
The fourth-wicket partnership between Barresi and de Leede saw them adding 57 runs to the total before the latter fell after a quickfire cameo of 39 runs from just 19 deliveries.
Barresi then also accelerated and bolstered the Netherlands’ score in the last phase of the innings but had a heartbreaking end to his brilliant knock as he fell just three runs short of his second ODI century.
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He scored 97 off just 65 balls, laced up with 10 boundaries and three sixes.
Saqib Zulfiqar’s quickfire 33 off 17 deliveries lifted the Netherlands to put on a massive total on the scoreboard.
Bilal Khan led the bowling attack for Oman with three wickets but was expensive while Mohammad Nadeem picked two wickets.
Set to chase a mammoth, Oman could only accumulate 246/6 in 44 overs before bad light forced an early closure of the action and thus, the Netherlands, registered a resounding 74-run victory in a must-win game.
Ayaan Khan waged a lone battle for Oman with a gutsy century and remained unbeaten when umpires called off the action due to bad light.
He scored 105 from 92 balls, hitting 11 boundaries and two sixes.
Shoaib Khan (46 off 61) was the other significant contributor for Oman while the rest failed to score freely against the Dutch bowling attack.
Aryan Dutt was the pick of the bowlers for the Netherlands with 3/31, followed by Ryan Khan, who bagged two.
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