Unbeaten century by Hope drives West Indies to victory over Netherlands
The West Indies have defeated Netherlands in the first of three ODIs after a winning knock from West Indies vice-captain Shai Hope.
Shai Hope starred for the West Indies with an unbeaten 119, which makes his 11th ODI century.
He was assisted by bruising half centuries from teammates Shamarh Brooks and Brandon King.
This will earn the team crucial Cricket World Cup Super League match points after sealing a seven-wicket win.
The men in maroon were left to chase 240 from a reduced 45 overs after the match was affected by rain.
Left to chase a challenging target in damp conditions, playing in an unfamiliar territory, they managed to make light work of a 248 chase, as they won the match with 11 balls to spare and seven wickets in hand.
The tone of the chase was set early as Hope and Brooks added 120 for the first wicket.
Later on, Hope and King put on an unbroken 116-run stand to seal the deal.
The West Indies have never played in Netherlands prior to this and even had little matches against the side.
In the Cricket World Cup Super League, West Indies are ten points adrift from New Zealand who hold the eighth and final automatic spot, and time is running out for the side, having played 15 of their 24 matches in the competition already.
The second and third ODI will take place on June 2 and June 4 respectively. Despite the win, West Indies are currently 10th and outside the direct qualifying zone in the ODI Super League that serves to identify seven direct qualifiers for next year's 50-overs World Cup in India.
This is the first series for new West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran, who takes over from Kieron Pollard.
The West Indies were formerly winless across their last five One Day Internationals, including matches two and three of their series defeat to Ireland at home.
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