Daily Times

HARARE: The Netherlands kept their World Cup hopes alive with a 74-run win over Oman, in a rain-shortened game in Harare on Monday, though the margin of victory wasn’t quite enough to see them leapfrog Zimbabwe nor Scotland on net run rate. That was the case primarily down to Ayaan Khan who played a chance-laden hand to register a maiden ODI ton on his way to an unbeaten 105 off 92 deliveries. Alongside him, it was only Shoaib Khan that played an innings of any note for Oman, as the pair combined for a 112-run fifth wicket stand — though at no point did they look like they could seriously threaten the mammoth Dutch total.

Ayaan was at the crease when bad light brought play to an early close with Oman on 246 for 6, 44 overs into the chase. Having elected to bat and scored 362 for 7 in a 48-over game, the Dutch had needed to restrict Oman to 242 to ensure their NRR went above that of Scotland. This would have been crucial in the event of three-way tie for second place. That can only transpire if Scotland beat Zimbabwe on Tuesday (today), and the Netherlands then beat Scotland themselves. As things stand, even if Scotland secure a win today, the Dutch need to the beat Scotland by a big enough margin to leapfrog them on NRR. Any result but a Scotland win today sees the Dutch eliminated. That they couldn’t secure the necessary margin of victory yesterday might be a minor source of disappointment, as their batters had put them in prime position to do so. Vikramjit Singh notched a maiden ODI century, Wesley Barresi nearly got one of his own, and then cameos from Bas de Leede and Saqib Zulfiqar spearheaded a late onslaught that saw 127 runs scored off the final 10 overs.

Their bowlers then gave them a dream start reducing Oman to 4 for 102, only for Ayaan and Shoaib to come together for their defiant stand, one which would have been particularly disappointing seeing that Ayaan had been dropped three times — on 12, 20 and 33 —- over the course of his innings. While all three were of varying difficulty, the fact that none were taken would have stung. That wasn’t to take away from Ayaan’s knock though, which encompassed 11 fours and two sixes — one a sumptuous lofted straight drive, and the other a powerful pick-up over long-on. His control percentage of 77% however highlights another area in where the Dutch might have felt a touch unfortunate, with several mishits falling safe.

He struggled most against the excellent Aryan Dutt, whose changes in pace and subtle variations had several Oman batters in difficulty. The right-arm off spinner would end with figures of 3 for 31 in 10 overs, accounting for the scalps of the only other batters to get in aside from Aayan — Kashyap Prajapati, Mohammed Nadeem and Shoaib. Though where Oman really lost the game was in the field, conceding 36 extras in total, inclusive of 23 wides. In a game shortened by two overs a side, Oman gave away nearly four extra overs. This came alongside a poor ground fielding effort in which the several easy singles and twos were given away — all of which would add up. Credit however must be given to the Dutch, who have set the benchmark across the entire tournament in terms of their running between the wickets.

Brief scores:

Netherlands 362 for 7 (Vikramjit Singh 110, Wesley Barresi 97, Bilal Khan 3-75) beat Oman 246 for 6 (Ayaan Khan 105 not out, Shoaib Khan 46, Aryan Dutt 3-31) by 74 runs on the DLS method.