The Netherlands defeated Oman 246 for 6 (Ayaan 105*, Shoaib 46, Dutt 3-31) by 74 runs using the DLS method (Bikramjit 110, Barresi 97, Bilal 3-75).
In a rain-shortened match in Harare, the Netherlands defeat Oman with the aid of Vikramjit and Barresi. was insufficient to allow them to surpass Scotland and Zimbabwe in terms of net run rate.
Ayaan Khan, who played a chance-filled hand to score his first ODI century on his route to an unbeaten 105 off 92 deliveries, is mostly to blame for this. Only Shoaib Khan, who batted alongside him, had notable Oman innings; the two of them put on a fifth-wicket stand of 112 runs, although they never appeared to be in any danger of exceeding the enormous Dutch total.
Oman was on 246 for 6 44 overs into the chase when poor lighting forced an early end to play. Ayaan was at the crease. The Netherlands needed to hold Oman to 242 runs after choosing to bat and scoring 362 for 7 in a 48-over match for their NRR to surpass that of Scotland. If there had been a three-way tie for second place, this would have been extremely important.
Only if Scotland defeats Zimbabwe tomorrow and the Netherlands defeats Scotland thereafter can that happen. Currently, even if Scotland wins tomorrow, the Dutch must defeat Scotland by a significant margin to pass them on NRR. The Dutch are out of the running tomorrow barring a victory for Scotland.
It may be a small sadness that they weren’t able to win by the requisite margin today because their hitters had set them up nicely. Wesley Barresi came close to scoring his first ODI century, Vikramjit Singh hit his first ODI century, and then cameos from Bas de Leede and Saqib Zulfiqar helped spark a late onslaught that resulted in 127 runs being scored off the final 10 overs.
When Oman was reduced to 4 for 102 by their bowlers, they had a perfect start. However, Ayaan and Shoaib joined forces for a courageous stand, which would have been especially upsetting given that Ayaan had been dropped three times. Throughout his innings, he reached 12, 20, and 33. Even though all three were of differing complexity, it would have hurt if any had been taken.
Ayaan’s knock, which included 11 fours and two sixes—one a lavish lofted straight drive and the other a strong pick-up over long-on—was unaffected by this. However, his control percentage of 77% reveals yet another area where the Dutch may have felt a little unlucky, with several mishits landing safely.
He had the most trouble playing against the brilliant Aryan Dutt, whose subtle variations and tempo changes caused several Oman batsmen to struggle. The only other batsmen to enter the batting order except Aayan were Kashyap Prajapati, Mohammed Nadeem, and Shoaib. The right-arm off-spinner would finish with figures of 3 for 31 in 10 overs.
Oman lost the game on the field, as they gave up a total of 36 extra points, including 23 wides. Oman conceded nearly four extra overs in a match that was cut short by two overs per team. This was coupled with subpar ground fielding, which resulted in the loss of numerous easy singles and doubles, all of which added up.
However, the Dutch deserve praise because they have established the standard for between-the-wicket running during the entire tournament. This approach occasionally worked against Sri Lanka, a far better fielding unit, but against Oman, every inch that could be won was gained.
With an opening stand of 117 runs off 132 deliveries and a devastating death overs onslaught, it served as the cornerstone of an innings that never truly slowed down. When Singh fell shortly after hitting his century, Barresi increased the stakes with succeeding stands of 30, 55, and 57 with Scott Edwards, de Leede, and Zulfiqar, respectively. with between, the Singh-Barresi pair stood for 80 off 72.
No bowler had a strike rate of less than 100 against him, although he had a soft spot for Aaqib Ilyas and Ayaan’s spin, hitting the former for two sixes over cow corner and the latter for a flat smash over long-off. Ilyas was the stand-in skipper for the injured Zeeshan Maqsood. He only needed 65 deliveries to score 97 runs, including 10 fours and 3 sixes.
When rapid runs were required, the Dutch promoted both de Leede and Zulfiqar over Teja Nidamanuru, demonstrating how well they understood the game state. In just 36 deliveries, the two would score a total of 72 points. While it was sufficient to keep them in the running for qualification, they must now wait and hope that Scotland fulfills their obligation tomorrow.
