Salomons inspires Netherlands to convincing victory in last ODI

Salomons, the Dutch captain, gave an excellent all round performance to lead Netherlands to a 19-run victory in the last match of the series, played under lights at Karachi's National Stadium.

The visitors displayed excellent teamwork in the last three matches of the 7-match series after losing the first four encounters in a row.

It was yet another fine batting performance by the Dutch, after been put into bat by Pakistan; the home side winning the toss for the 7th time in as many matches.

The main architects in Netherlands score of 204 were te Beeste and Salomons. Getting together at a critical position of 49 for 2, after Rambaldo had made a fine 30 (60 balls) at the openers slot, these two experienced campaigners added a valuable 67 for the 3rd wicket.

Te Beeste, the player of the match in the previous two encounters, gathered 33 off 65 balls, which included five hits to the fence.

Her partner, however, didn't give up until the very end of the innings, leading the scoring almost single-handedly. After the departure of te Beeste at 116, Netherlands added a further 88 runs, with the major contribution coming from Salomons, as none of the players at the end could take her personal score into double figures.

The Netherlands skipper was the last woman out, on the last ball of the 50th over, after making an attacking 79 off 85 balls, while hitting 8 boundaries.

For Pakistan, Khursheed Jabeen and Shaiza Khan took two wickets each for 40 and 51, respectively. Mahewish Khan and Sharmeen Khan bagged one wicket each for 15 and 52 runs, respectively. The Pakistani bowlers gave away 35 extras, of which 26 came off wides.

Pakistan fell into trouble immediately at the start of their innings, losing Zehmurad Afzal for only 8 on the board. Mahewish Khan (23 off 29) and Sajjida Shah (29 off 93) added 33 for the second wicket, but after the dismissal of former, wickets just began to tumble.

With the next three batswomen failing to make any worthwhile contribution, Pakistan were soon reduced to 115 for 6, with all hopes resting on Shaiza Khan.

The skipper made a valiant effort to take her side in sight of victory, getting a fine 38 off 62 balls, while hitting 5 boundaries. However, after her dismissal, all hopes of victory just wore away, as the last two wickets could add a mere 21 to the score before they were all out for 185 in the 49th over.

After giving an excellent batting display with the bat, the Dutch skipper also showed her prowess in the bowling department, getting 3 wickets for 24 runs in 9 overs, thus, securing for herself the player of the match award.

Hartenhof and C Rambaldo also bowled well for the visitors taking two wickets each for 24 and 23, respectively.