WATCH: Drama in Amstelveen as Netherlands’ players, groundsmen search ball in woods after Malan slams it out of park

WATCH: Drama in Amstelveen as Netherlands’ players, groundsmen search ball in woods after Malan slams it out of park

Searching for the ball

England is locking-horns with the Netherlands in the first ODI of three ODIs in Amstelveen on Friday. The only times both the teams had met previously were at the World Cup. The Netherlands’ cricket ground doesn’t have developed settings; have a picturesque setting as the country doesn’t host too many international matches.

World Cup champions England haven’t played an ODI match in the last 11 months and are playing their first ODI since then against the Dutch in a bilateral series. The Netherlands team, captained by Pieter Seelaar won the toss and opted to bowl first. Jason Roy was sent back after scoring just one run; his cousin Shane Snater had knocked his stumps in the second over.

English team is travelling with some of the most aggressive batsmen, so it was expected of them to play huge shots. That’s what happened in this match too. After Roy’s wicket, Philip Salt and Dawid Malan stabilized the innings. But one of Malan’s sixes went so far; and similar to amateur level of cricket, when a ball gets lost in bushes, players try to find it. In this match, even the Dutch fielders had to come and help the groundsmen search the ball in the woods. Finally they found the ball after searching for nearly a minute to resume the game.

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Watch the video below:

Jos Buttler’s 162 help England register highest score in ODI cricket

ball
Jos Buttler

English batsman Philip Salt scored a century (122) while Malan supported him at the other end. Phil Salt was chosen to open alongside Roy in place of Jonny Bairstow, who is away for Test duties. Led by newly made captain Ben Stokes, other English Test team is in New Zealand for the three-Test series.

Malan went on to score 125 off 109 runs. But it was Jos Buttler, who scored an unbeaten 162 runs in just 70 balls with 14 sixes and seven fours at a strike rate that read 231.43. These three aren’t the only ones, even the dangerous Liam Livingstone played 22 balls and went on to score 66 runs with six boundaries and six sixes. All of these scored added England’s second highest total of 498/4 in fifty overs.

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