New Delhi, Feb 28: Kemar Roach produced the first hat-trick of the tournament as West Indies crushed the Netherlands by 215 runs in a group B match of the ICC cricket World Cup here today.
Sent into bat, openers Chris Gayle (80) and Devon Smith (53) shared a century-stand together before Kireon Pollard's quickfire 27-ball 60 helped the West Indies post a massive 330 for eight, the highest total at the Feroze Shah Kotla ground here.
And then riding on Roach's (6/27) best ODI figures, the Caribbean side bundled out the hapless-looking Dutch team for a paltry 115 in 31.3.
It was the sixth hat-trick in the history the World Cup when Roach bowled last man Berend Westdijk with the third ball of the 32nd over after his first and second deliveries of the same over sent packing Peter Seelar and Bernard Loots, both adjudged lbw.
Apart from Roach, Sulieman Benn (3 for 28) also chipped in with crucial wickets as the duo wreaked havoc upfront and ran through the top and middle order to leave the Netherlands reeling at 56 for six.
For the Dutch Tom Cooper, who remained unbeaten on 55 off 72 balls and hit with nine fours in the process, fought a lost battle even as wickets kept falling at the other end.
If not for Cooper's 57-run stand with Madassar Bukhari (24) for the seven wicket, the Netherlands would have found it tough to cross the 100-run mark.
The Oranje brigade failed to show the same intensity on the field today which they displayed against England in their opening match.
The Netherland's hero of last game, Ryan ten Doeschate also looked completely off-colour today as he conceded 77 runs for just one wicket off his 10 overs and then scored just seven with the bat before he fell lbw to Benn.
It was, however, Gayle who set the tone for the Windies victory with a patient 80 of 110 ball. He struck seven fours and two sixes, and shared a century-run opening stand with Smith before adding another 68 runs with Darren Bravo to lay a solid platform for Pollard to explode.
Gayle, however remained one short of completing his 8000 runs in ODI cricket to become only the fourth West Indian cricketer to achieve the feat when he was caught by Alexei Kervezee off Ten Doeschate in the 37th over.
Pollard, on his part, hit a quick-fire 60 off just 27 balls which included five fours and four sixes, to set the platform for the formidable score for the Windies who are without a win in their last nine ODIs.
The right-hander also shared a 65-run fourth wicket stand with Ramnaresh Sarwan (49). His fabulous knock was marked with hits all around the park which entertained a handful of crowd here. Of his four sixes, a huge hit over the long off brought up his fifty.
For the Netherlands, left-arm spinner Peter Seelar was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets for 45 runs.
Chasing 331 for victory, the Netherlands lost opener Wesley Baressi for a duck before his partner Kervezee (14) soon joined him in the dressing room.
Cooper then tried hard to consolidate the innings but failed to get support from the other end. Even as he stood his ground, wickets kept on tumbling from the other end.
In a lop-sided battle, Roach suddenly brought in a lot of fire when he returned Seelar and Loots in consecutive balls to set up a opportunity for hat-trick.
And even as all the West Indies fielders closed in, Roach castled through the defence of last man Westdijk to put himself in the elite list of hat-trick takers in the World Cup.
Earlier, the West Indies made their intentions clear from the very first ball as Smith straight away sent out strong signal to the opposition camp by hitting three boundaries in the very first over of the innings off Madassar Bukhari.
The opening pair kept the scoreboard ticking with ones and twos, besides occasional fours to maintain a healthy run-rate against an average Dutch bowling attack.
Smith, being the more dominating of the two was completely in control as he punished the Dutch bowlers for every lose delivery, racing to his half-century in just 45 balls with the help of nine fours.
On the other hand, Gayle got off to a slow start, taking 23 balls to score his first six runs before he got into the rhythm.
After the initial hiccup, he chose Ten Doeschate's first over to open up, hitting him for three fours through the cover before he hit two more in the following over to sent the Oranje brigade on a leather hunt.
The Dutch bowlers failed to back their skipper Peter Borren's decision to field first. PTI
