After last Thursday’s scare in the second ODI, the touring West Indian women turned in a much more convincing performance in Deventer on Monday to win by 80 runs and take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the four-match series.

After winning the toss and electing to field, the Dutch saw the tourists get away to a rapid start, as Deandra Dottin and Stephanie Taylor took on the opening bowlers, 44 coming off the first eight overs.

Promoted to an opening slot, Dottin was particularly aggressive, hitting Mandy Kornet and Lotte Egging for a succession of fours and then driving Caroline de Fouw for a splendid six in her opening over.

Taylor was more circumspect, but in her first game in The Netherlands she revealed a wide range of shots, and continuing to bat with fluency after Dottin fell, caught by Egging on the long-on boundary off the bowling of Helmien Rambaldo’s second ball for a fine 78-ball 66.

Taylor and Chedean Nation added a further 56 for the second wicket, but De Fouw and Marloes Braat bowled well in the middle stages of the innings, and succeeded in pegging back the scoring rate to some degree.

The young West Indian eventually became Egging’s second victim, Nation having been trapped leg-before eight overs earlier, in the 45th over, having made 70 off 120 balls with five boundaries.

Wickets fell rapidly in the final overs as the tourists attempted to get the total as high as possible, and Egging was the main beneficiary, finishing with four for 56, her best return in ODIs. Braat’s none for 33 was a good effort, even though she went unrewarded with a wicket.

The Dutch generally stuck to the task well, although dropped catches and missed run-outs in the latter stages of the West Indian innings again reflected their relative inexperience in high-pressure situations as the touring side reached 235 for seven.

Cheraldine Oudolf and Carlijn de Groot gave their side a steady start, but at 24 Oudolf lost patience and was caught at midwicket off Debbie Ann Lewis’s bowling, and at 51 De Groot followed, bowled by Anisa Mohammed. Rambaldo followed two balls later, and the Dutch innings tottered.

The West Indian attack maintained the pressure well, as they have done throughout the tour, and only Carolien Salomons was able to gain control.

She and Violet Wattenberg added 36 for the fifth wicket, but then Wattenberg became the first of three victims for Stacy-Ann King, who took three for 33 as the Dutch side were dismissed for 155.

Salomons stayed to the end, making a splendid not-out 70 off 119 deliveries with five boundaries, but with Taylor chipping in with two for 7 to make sure of the Man of the Match award, she was eventually left high and dry.

Metaphorically speaking that is – given the downpour which soaked all concerned just before the end, nobody on the field was dry in a literal sense.

If Thursday’s match had created the sense that The Netherlands women are gradually closing the gap on the major countries, this game demonstrated that it remains a substantial one, and the bowling needs to be much tighter and the batting deeper and more positive if the Dutch are really to compete on the international stage.

But that’s what this series is all about, and there’s no doubt that the Dutch squad will have learned a lot by the time the final ODI is completed on Wednesday.