WC 2011: West Indies crush Netherlands by 215 runs

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.