Hope steers West Indies to emphatic win in rain-marred series opener

A near-chanceless century from Shai Hope at the top of the order saw the West Indies notch a comfortable win over the Netherlands in a rain-affected series opener in Amstelveen. Set a target of 247 in 45 overs by their hosts after a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern adjustment following a protracted rain delay in the first innings, Hope put on a century-stand with Shamarh Brooks for the opening wicket to lay the foundations of the chase, and despite a flurry of wickets mid-innings, Hope and Brandon King would romp home with eleven balls to spare. A promising opening stand between Max O'Dowd and the teenaged Vikram Singh, followed by a brisk half-century on debut from Teja Nidamunuru after the rain was not enough to lift the hosts to a score that could challenge the tourists, Hope batting through despite the quick loss of three partners mid way through the chase, joined by Brandon King to close out the win at a canter. After being asked to bat first after losing what looked both at the time and in hindsight to be a crucial toss, Singh and O'Dowd nonetheless got the hosts off to a good start, weathering a hostile new ball spell from Alzarri Joseph which gave both the Dutch openers plenty to think about on a deck that did a fair bit early on, but O'Dowd and Singh would bide their time and Singh especially began to find his range after the first few overs, imposing himself on the match with an effortless pick-up six over backward square off Philip in the ninth, over the VIP stand and into the trees of the Amsterdamse Bos. Three balls later a near carbon copy over the press tent brought the sparse home crowd to their feet, and despite the absence of much of their first-choice side the home fans began to liven up. The first real chance came in the tenth over after Pooran had switched to spin, O'Dowd turning Hosein to leg and slow to take the cue to run from Singh, but the throw too poor to punish him as they took a stuttering single. Singh would fall three short of his half-century however, trapped LBW on review looking to brush Hosein to leg off the pads. The wicket, spread field and slow-bowling combo of Hosein and Hayden Walsh combined to put the breaks on rather, O'Dowd and Musa Ahmad struggling to pierce the infield. A drag-down from Walsh in the 21st gave O'Dowd a chance to break the shackles however and he didn't miss out, pulling hard through midwicket for four to bring up the hundred. Musa couldn't get going however, and a second attempted sweep off Hosein snuck under the bat and into the pad in front of leg, and he knew better than to review. After an unusually restrained 39, O'Dowd 's concentration failed him in the 27th, playing around a fuller ball from Walsh that drifted on and in through the gate and went on with the arm into the stumps. The Windies fightback continue as 13 balls later Mayers had de Leede chasing a wide one outside off and nicking through to Hope, the hosts sliding from 102-1 to 138-4 in the space of eight overs. The first of the rain showers that had been threatening the ground would hit shortly after, and brief though it was another couple coming in behind kept them off for almost two hours. The rain interruption seemingly broke Edwards' focus, shuffling across to Philip looking to glance to leg and pinned LBW shortly after the resumption. Nidamanuru and Seelaar would play some attractive shots, but too often finding fielders as the hosts struggled to accelerate into the death. Seelaar would fall in the 40th trying to force the pace stepping down to Joseph but failing to clear Philip at long on. Nidamanuru would press on with van Beek however, taking the Dutch past 200 pulling Mayers hard and flat toward the square boundary, where Bonner had drifted in too far and could only palm it over the rope for six. Joseph proved hard to get a hold of at the death though, the 42nd and 44th going for just 11 runs in total. Nidamanuru continued to punish Mayers in the last over, bringing up his half century with a steepling six over he on side, where deep midwicket took a flying catch on his way over the rope but couldn't get it back in. Next ball and again a half-chance was spilled over the rope on the square boundary, and though Logan van Beek would be bowled by a slower ball two balls later, Nidamanuru's late hitting would be enough to give the Dutch something to bowl at, though finishing on 240-7 with DLS adding just seven runs to the total, the hosts would need early wickets to have a hope of holding off the Windies. But after the turnover, neither Logan van Beek nor Vivian Kingma could get the new ball swinging, and Shai Hope and Shamarh Brooks rode out the opening salvo before Brooks got stuck into Kingma in the last over of the powerplay, twice whipping full balls off his toes all the way into the stands behind square leg to bring up the fifty for the tourists. Seelaar would bring himself into the attack in the hopes of breaking the stand but would be left frustrated after finally breaching Brooks' defences with the last ball before drinks and clipping the off bail only for the obstinate piece of woodwork to settle back in the groove. Hope and Brooks would carry on where they left off as Seelaar turned to spin at both ends to no avail, as Aryan Dutt's first ball was slammed back straight over the sightscreen and out of the park by Hope. the latter bringing up his fifty cutting Seelaar away to the deep in the 20th over, before Kingma was brought back only to be pulled around the corner first ball as Hope too went to fifty, the hosts rapidly running out of ideas. The breakthrough would come like a bolt from the blue, short from van Beek on the third ball of the 24th and Hope flat-batting it back past him, only it never made it past as a reflex return catch sent him back for sixty. First ball to number three Nkumrah Bonner was full and on the money and dead in front, and Pooran would survive an LBW appeal as he missed a sweep aimed at Dutt overturned on review, but two balls later would be comprehensively castled going back in the crease and missing a mow across the line. That would be the last joy for the hosts however, Brandon King coming to the crease at 133-3, and not leaving until the job was done. Hope would bring up his 11th ODI century just stoking Seelaar through the covers for a single off the third ball of the 37th, by which time the West Indies were closing in on 200. The pair brought up the Windies' second century stand as hope deposited Bas de Leede over midwicket and into the stands again, and King would bring up his fifty in the same over, working de Leede along the ground in the same direction to notch his half century from just 45 balls. King would finish unbeaten on 58* from 54 balls, but it would fall to Hope to deliver the coup de grace, albeit an uncharacteristically uncontrolled one, edging Ryan Klein through the vacant cordon for four on the first ball of the 44th to see his side to a seven-wicket victory. The two sides will meet again on Thursday for the second ODI in the three-match series, with the tourists looking to bag another crucial 10 CWC Super League points and seal the series win early, while the hosts will be hoping to set up a decider on Saturday.