In a completely one-sided encounter, the Men in Blue batted first and posted a mammoth 410/4 on the board. Shreyas Iyer (128 not out off 94) and KL Rahul (102 off 64) struck wonderful centuries, while skipper Rohit Sharma (61 off 54), Shubman Gill (51 off 32) and Virat Kohli (51 off 56) all contributed half-centuries.
Chasing a huge total, the Dutch side were bowled out for 250 in 47.5 overs. Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj claimed two scalps each, while Kohli and Rohit also claimed a wicket each. For Netherlands, Teja Nidamanuru top-scored with 54 off 39, while Sybrand Engelbrecht contributed 45 off 80.
Batting first, India got off to another great start as Rohit and Gill added exactly 100 for the first wicket. The stand was broken when Gill was brilliantly caught on the fence by Nidamanuru off Paul van Meekeren’s bowling. Rohit again perished to the pull, miscuing one off Bas de Leede. Kohli too fell after crossing his fifty, bowled by a quicker delivery from Roelof van der Merwe.
At 200/3, Shreyas was joined by Rahul and the two added 208 runs for the fourth wicket. Both batters were ruthless with their stroke play in Bengaluru on a flat pitch. Shreyas struck 10 fours and five sixes, while Rahul hit 11 fours and four sixes. With two consecutive maximums, Rahul reached three figures off 62 balls, breaking Rohit’s record (63 balls) for fastest hundred by an Indian in the men’s ODI World Cup.
Chasing 411, Netherlands lost Wesley Barresi for 4 as he flirted at one from Siraj outside off stump. Colin Ackermann (35 off 32) and Max O’Dowd (30 off 42) added 61 for the second wicket before Ackermann was trapped lbw by Kuldeep as he missed his sweep. Jadeja then produced a brilliant delivery to knock out O’Dowd.
Netherlands captain Scott Edwards (17) fell to the golden arm of Kohli as he was strangled down leg, while Bas de Leede (12) failed to keep out a yorker from Bumrah. Siraj then ended Engelbrecht’s resistance, knocking him over from round the stumps. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals. It was a fairy-tale finish for India as Rohit claimed the last wicket – Nidamanuru dragging a big hit to long-on.
--By A Cricket Correspondent
