FANTASY
Follow UsAfter going down by just one run in the first One-Day International, Ireland made an astonishing comeback in the second encounter and thumped the Netherlands by eight wickets to level the three-match series 1-1. The two teams will now be involved in a series-decider at the Sportpark Maarschalkerweerd, Utrecht on Monday (June 7).
The Netherlands bowlers have been pretty good in their series but the same can't be said about their batting unit. The Men in Orange haven't managed to get past the 200-run mark in their last four ODIs, with the likes of Ben Cooper, Scott Edwards, Stephan Myburgh, Saqib Zulfiqar, and few others struggling for runs.
Max O'Dowd has looked good but hasn't got that big score yet in this series. The hosts could try out Tobias Visee and Musa Ahmed in the batting department, while in-form seamer Vivian Kingma could come in place of Brandon Glover.
Meanwhile, Ireland will be delighted with the way most of their experienced players have performed so far. Paul Stirling, Andy Balbirnie, Harry Tector and Simi Singh have been amongst runs, while Craig Young and Joshua Little have picked 14 wickets between them. William Porterfield has failed to make a mark in both the ODIs but the management would want to give him one more game.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Overall - 12 | Ireland – 8 Wins | Netherlands – 2 Wins | Tie 1 | NR 1
SUGGESTED TEAMS
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms, we have come up with one team.
GROUND DETAILS AND TEAM COMBINATION
The Sportpark Maarschalkerweerd had never hosted a Men's ODI prior to this series. In two games so far, bowlers have dominated the proceedings. There has been enough movement on offer for the fast bowlers, while the spinners too have managed to extract some turn. In this series, batsmen have scored runs at an average of 22.7 and a wicket has fallen every 37.2 deliveries.
The likes of Young, Little, Pieter Seelaar and Logan Verjus van Beek are the in-form bowlers and it would be ideal to have all four of them in your XI. Fast bowlers have picked the majority of the wickets but there is no harm in keeping a couple of spin-bowling all-rounders in your team.
CAPTAIN
Paul Stirling has been one of the finest limited-overs batsmen in the last two years and has been a prolific run-scorer for Ireland. With scores of 52, 69, 118, 128, 39, 4, 131* and 142 in his last eight ODI innings, the 30-year-old is currently in the form of his life. Since 2019, Stirling has slammed 1472 runs in 26 innings at an average of 58.88. He already has two fifties in this series and will be eager to end the tour on a high.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Stirling could score 31-47 runs in this match.
X-FACTORS
Joshua Little has quickly become a force to reckon with in white-ball cricket ever since his impressive ODI debut against England in May 2019. The left-arm seamer has got good pace and can move the ball both ways. The 21-year-old has troubled every Netherlands batsman in this series and has picked up seven wickets at a stunning average of 10.14.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Little could claim 2-3 wickets in this match.
Max O'Dowd got good starts in both the ODIs but couldn't convert it into something substantial. The right-handed opener scored 23 in the first ODI and then followed it up with an impressive 36 in the second match. The 27-year-old started his ODI career with three consecutive fifties but will now be eager to get that big score in the decider. O'Dowd will have to contribute with the bat in the final ODI if the Netherlands want to win this series.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts O'Dowd could score 21-31 runs in this match.
Logan Verjus van Beek is the only Netherlands player who has contributed in all facets of the game. The Christchurch-born bowling all-rounder has managed scores of 22* and 29 in the first two ODIs and has also claimed three wickets at an average of 26. The 30-year-old could prove to be a handy pick, considering he could fetch you points in all three departments.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Verjus van Beek could claim 0-1 wicket in this match.
