West Indies vs Netherlands, ICC WCQ 2023, Today Match Prediction

win vs nl Match Prediction & Analysis

West Indies suffered a shocking defeat in their most recent game against Zimbabwe in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers, losing by 33 runs. Despite that loss, they have already made it to the Super Sixes.

West Indies and Sri Lanka were considered strong contenders to secure a spot in the World Cup held in India. However, their loss against Zimbabwe has placed their qualification for the main event later this year at risk. They missed out on retaining two points that could have been carried over to the Super Sixes. These points are typically accumulated by winning matches against other qualifying teams from your group, such as Zimbabwe and Netherlands in the West Indies' situation.

Now they have one more game left in the league stage against the Netherlands on June 26. Netherlands too advanced to the Super Sixes stage after securing a seven-wicket victory over Nepal. With both West Indies and Netherlands having made it to the next stage from this group, their focus in this match will be on securing the essential two points.

 

TEAMS PREVIEW

West Indies Preview

West Indies must still be reeling from that shock defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe. Chasing a target of 269 on a pitch that was two-paced, West Indies kept losing at regular intervals and eventually folded for 233. It was yet another poor batting show by West Indies, where they succumbed under pressure. On the positive side, opener Kyle Mayers finally got some runs, scoring a solid 56 off 72 balls.

Captain Shai Hope (216 runs in 3 matches at an average of 72) will, of course, be the main batter for the team. Hope would be hurting after that loss against Zimbabwe, and we are backing him to make a big score here. Nicholas Pooran (192 runs in 3 matches at an average of 64) has been striking it well. The stylish left-handed batter has a strike-rate of 121.51 in the competition, and if he gets going, he will be hard to stop.

As expected, fast bowler Alzarri Joseph has delivered for the West Indies. The new ball bowler has taken 6 wickets in 3 innings at an economy of 5.16 in this tournament. Keemo Paul was expensive in the last game against Zimbabwe, but he also picked up 3 wickets. We also think that left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein (4 wickets in 3 matches at an economy of 4.71) might cause trouble to the Netherlands batters on this pitch.

 

West Indies Predicted Playing XI:

Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Johnson Charles, Shai Hope (c & wk), Nicholas Pooran, Roston Chase, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Keemo Paul, Alzarri Joseph, Akeal Hosein

West Indies Actual Playing XI:

Romario Shepherd, Brandon King, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Nicholas Pooran, Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shai Hope, Jason Holder, Shamarh Brooks, Keemo Paul

Netherlands Preview

Netherlands made a grand entry into the Super Sixes with a solid thumping of Nepal at the Takashinga Sports Club. Logan van Beek Nepal, sent to bat in challenging conditions favoring the bowlers, struggled to cope with the outstanding bowling efforts from Vikramjit Singh (2-20) and worsened by Logan van Beek (4-24), eventually folding for 167 runs. 

Van Beek found movement in the air and off the seam early on, and seeing as their match against West Indies is on the same pitch, he will likely ask plenty of questions from their batters. Vikramjit Singh, besides his medium-fast bowling, continues to do well as an opening batter, having scored 126 runs in this tournament at an average of 42.

Max O'Dowd’s 90 off 75 balls ensured that Netherlands made light work of the chase, winning by seven wickets in 27.1 overs. The opener has scored two fifties in the competition and will certainly be one of the batters to watch out for. Scott Edwards (150 runs in two innings) didn’t get to bat in the previous match, but he’s the team’s in-form batter, and we feel he will have an important role to play in this game.

Van Beek and Vikramjit are not the only notable players in the Netherlands' bowling unit; Bas de Leede deserves a mention as well. The medium-fast bowler has been fabulous so far, taking 5 wickets at a fantastic economy of just 4.95. On this deck, he will be more than a handful.

 

Netherlands Predicted Playing XI:

Vikramjit Singh, Max ODowd, Wesley Barresi, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Logan van Beek, Clayton Floyd, Shariz Ahmad, Aryan Dutt, Ryan Klein

Netherlands Actual Playing XI:

Aryan Dutt, Teja Nidamanuru, Wesley Barresi, Clayton Floyd, Logan van Beek, Vivian Kingma, Max O'Dowd, Saqib Zulfiqar, Vikramjit Singh, Scott Edwards, Bas de Leede

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

In the last two matches played at the Takashinga Sports Club, the seam bowlers got consistent help throughout the match. The deck here is a little two-paced, and cutters and slower ones will be really useful here. Batters who don’t use proper technique might struggle. That said, once they get used to its pace, they will be able to play their strokes all around. 

The weather in Harare during the match will be bright and delightful.

Venue Details

The average score batting first at the Takashinga Sports Club is 238, while the average runs per over here is 4.91. The highest total posted at the venue is 297 by West Indies against USA in this very tournament. The team batting first should look to set a target of around 275-285 runs.

Toss: To Bat

Out of the four matches played at the Takashinga Sports Club in this tournament, two have been won by the team chasing while two have been won by the side batting first. Since this match’s result won’t affect either team, we think the team winning the toss is likely to bat first in a bid to get some solid batting practice before the Super Sixes.