A photograph of an unsmiling Carlos Brathwaite while presenting an award to Logan van Beek after Netherlands’ victory over West Indies went viral on social media. Netherlands opening batter Max O’Dowd came to Brathwaite’s defence.
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Netherlands scripted a memorable victory over West Indies in one of the best ODI games ever played earlier this week. While several cricketers played key roles, Logan van Beek stole the show with a late surge in the chase and an all-time great Super Over performance.
Van Beek, whose grandfather Sammy Guillen played Test cricket for both West Indies and New Zealand, scored 30 runs in the Super Over, hitting Jason Holder for six boundaries. He then came to bowl as well, conceded eight, and picked both wickets to secure a win for the Dutch.
Brathwaite, hero of the 2016 T20 World Cup final, is a part of the commentary team at the World Cup Qualifiers. He was assigned the responsibility of awarding van Beek the Player of the Match award.
A picture from that presentation went viral on social media. Brathwaite looks stunned, as if still coming to terms with West Indies’ defeat and what it means in the larger scheme of things, while van Beek, the recipient of the award, is smiling.
Carlos Brathwaite presented the POTM award to Logan Van Beek for his match-winning performance against West Indies.
Brathwaite’s expressions say it all💔
📸: Disney + Hotstar
#CricTracker #CarlosBrathwaite #WIvNED pic.twitter.com/1I4cjlqb9a
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) June 26, 2023
The image got circulated widely on social media, convincing some that Brathwaite was not happy while presenting the award to van Beek, who had just played a massive role in diminishing West Indies’ World Cup hopes.
However, one user pointed out that the picture was just a screenshot from a longer sequence taken at the wrong time, aimed at spreading misinformation.
Seriously, stop spreading unnecessary stuff by conveniently taking a screenshot at the time that fits your narrative. pic.twitter.com/nJ9LP0X1IP
— Jeet Vachharajani🏏 (@Jeetv27) June 26, 2023
Max O’Dowd, the Dutch opener, who had scored a run-a-ball 36 in the run-chase of 375 in that game, came out in defence of Brathwaite, saying that he had actually been supportive of the Dutch players after the game.
Absolutely, Carlos was so supportive to all of us after that win. https://t.co/vwkQqGC24w
— Maxwell O’Dowd (@Maxiboi23) June 27, 2023
Both West Indies and Netherlands qualified for the Super Six stage after that game. However, West Indies have gone in with zero points carried over from the group stage, while the Netherlands will go in with two.
