West Indies vs Netherlands, 18th Match, Group A at Harare, CWC Qualifier, Jun 26 2023 - Ball by Ball Commentary

5:45pm And so, that will finally be that. A see-saw ODI contest that ended in heartbreak for one team and in absolute euphoria for the other. But this is not the last game either of these sides play at this World Cup Qualifier. Both teams, remember, have qualified for the Super Six, and while the Netherlands will have a two-point head-start over the West Indies, there is still plenty to play for, with two World Cup spots up for grabs. Until next time, this is me (Shashwat) signing off on behalf of Himanshu, Sudeep and everyone else at ESPNcricinfo. Goodbye and take care!

Gosh, that was some contest. It ebbed, flowed and at one point, it felt the Netherlands had done enough to win when they needed five off five balls. But then, the West Indies came back to tie the game, only for van Beek to produce an astonishing display of boundary-hitting to take the game definitively away from the West Indies. Several standout performances, most notably from Nidamanuru and captain Edwards. When they came together, the Netherlands were behind in the game, the required run-rate was rising and they did not have many wickets to play with. Yet, they held their nerve, pressurized the fielders into mistakes and found the fence whenever they needed to. There were impactful cameos lower down the order too, with van Beek and Dutt getting them close to their initial target. As it turned out, the momentum generated from those last few overs trumped the West Indies' experience, with van Beek, who was dismissed off the last ball of the 50th over, standing up tall and plundering Holder, who took the catch to secure the tie, into submission.

As for the West Indies, well, they were not great in the field. They conceded two many singles and doubles (in particular) and dropped two crucial catches. They did not affect them much in terms of runs but it did help the Dutch maintain their momentum. Then, when push came to shove at the death, they could not hold their own either. This defeat means that they will now enter the Super Six stage with zero points and their hopes of being at the ODI World Cup in India later this year now hang by the proverbial thread.

Logan van Beek, Player of the Match: (On the last hour of the game) I do not really know, I cannot really explain it at the moment. We wanted to do something special. To watch Scotty and Teja out there, the more they batted, the more we believed. I have been playing for a long time. The amount of games I have lost from those situations, it was just satisfying to get across the line. I just backed my skill - if you miss, I am going to hit it. I was pretty disappointed with the last ball that I chunked it to mid on. Thankful that I got a little bit of redemption. (On his approach when he came out to bat) I thought I wanted to give myself a chance and when that 49th over came, I wanted to go after it. (On the importance of the win) Massive. The culture that we have built and the learnings we have taken through the last 18-19 months. Now we have a chance to go to the World Cup in India and that is really huge.

Scott Edwards, Netherlands captain: (On the final few moments) I suppose it is still soaking in. I do not think I will ever play in a better game than this. I thought they batted sensationally. (On the score) Sixty runs more than we have ever hit. But the belief we have in this group and the way we have been playing cricket, we knew we had to bat well and that innings from Teja there and what Logan did at the end, pretty special. Well deserved (victory). (On the running between the wickets) I think it is probably one thing we pride ourselves on. We have worked on being super fit so that we can keep doing that. (On the Super Over) Logan was in a bit of a trance there. I was just trying to keep him calm. He just had his head down and he was smacking them for sixes. (What this win means to the group) We knew this was going to be a massive game for us. We will enjoy this game and we will be ready in a few days. (Best game of cricket?) Yeah, comfortably.

Shai Hope, West Indies captain: You really can't. We let ourselves down there. I cannot see us scoring 375 and losing the game. Credit to Netherlands for chasing that down. Cricket is not played in one half. We knew we had to bowl well but I always thought 375 would be enough. We definitely need to learn from this. (On going into the Super Six with zero points) We know what we have to do now. It is an unfortunate situation we have put ourselves in but it is what it is.

Phew, 30 runs came off that over. Holder, who has bowled so many overs under pressure, just could not handle van Beek. Edwards did not even have to face a ball and the West Indies will need something truly special to get past the line now. But then again...this game has already taught us to never say never...

Looks like the ball has taken so much of a pounding that it needs to be replaced

Captain Edwards has rolled up his sleeves and he has taken responsibility in this Super Over. van Beek will be the other batter for the Netherlands, with Holder in-charge of bowling the over