West Indies hat-trick star Kemar Roach blew away the Netherlands’ batting on Monday, taking six wickets as the fallen Caribbean giants got their World Cup campaign on track in style.
In the day/night match in New Delhi, the Netherlands, who pushed England close in their opener, were handed a sobering reminder of their place in cricket’s pecking order, conceding 330-8 and then slumping to 115 all out.
Opener Chris Gayle top-scored for the West Indies with 80 and Kieron Pollard smashed four sixes in the third quickest 50 in World Cup history in a devastating cameo, ending up with 60 in just 27 balls.
But the Netherlands innings was all about 22-year-old Roach who took 6-27, including a hat-trick to wrap up the match. Towering Sulieman Benn grabbed three wickets.
Captain Darren Sammy hailed the vital win after the West Indies’ disappointing opening seven-wicket defeat to South Africa, dedicating victory to the injured Dwayne Bravo.
“That’s what we’ve been asking for and it’s good to see us do that with ball and bat,” said Sammy.
“We all know how it’s important for a player to play in a World Cup. To see the pain on his [Bravo’s] face, most of the guys agreed that we’re going to lift up our spirits and use Dwayne Bravo as an inspiration to the team.”
Speaking about hat-trick star Roach, Sammy said: “It was great, it was brilliant. His role in the team is to be a strike bowler for us and it was important that he went out and did it.”
A delighted Roach said the win would give the West Indies much-needed confidence ahead of their next match against Bangladesh in Dhaka on Friday.
Back to drawing board
Disappointed Dutch skipper Peter Borren said his side would have to go back to the drawing board.
“I really don’t know what to put it down to. I guess the guys just didn’t turn up after what was a decent performance against England but we can turn it around in a couple of days’ time,” he said.
Earlier, minnows Canada slumped to a huge 175-run defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe, who scored 298 in their 50 overs with Tatenda Taibu (98) and Craig Ervine (85) putting on 181 for the third wicket.
Canada collapsed to 7-3 and never recovered, bowled out for just 123 with three wickets apiece for spinners Ray Price and Graeme Cremer.
In the game, 16-year-old Ontario schoolboy Nitish Kumar, who scored just one, made history by becoming the youngest ever World Cup player.
Zimbabwe skipper Elton Chigumbura said he was happy his team were still in the running for the quarter-finals, adding that the next game against New Zealand would be crucial.
“Craig and Tatenda put us back into the game. They applied themselves really well. Our bowling was fantastic,” he said.
Meanwhile England’s Ian Bell insisted on Monday there is plenty more to come from his side, who have reached three World Cup finals but never won cricket’s showpiece event, after their dramatic tie with hosts India on Sunday.
“We haven’t played our best cricket yet and we have just tied with India, chasing 338,” said Bell ahead of their return to the Chinnaswamy stadium for Wednesday’s match against Ireland.
“That has got to be a good sign. We just need to make sure that we play better cricket as this tournament goes on — there is no point playing it now.”
He added: “Our batting unit has been playing well, certainly (Andrew) Strauss, and that is exciting for us.”
Despite the excitement, India’s media said the match should serve as a wake-up call, bemoaning lacklustre fielding and a bowling line-up that lacked penetration. — Sapa-AFP