Nagpur – Today Netherlands put forward a strong case after ICC is looking to cut the teams to ten for the next World Cup edition. After winning the toss and electing to bat first; Ryan ten Doeschate, 119 runs off 110 balls, bravely led the Netherlands innings with his masterly crafted century. He was well supported by Tom Cooper 47 (73), skipper Peter Borren 35 (24) and To de Grooth 28 (31).
Netherlands managed to give England the fear of their lives before going down in a hard fought encounter at Nagpur. The Dutch made the most of their paltry bowling resources with lion hearted performances in a show that should prove a few points to the ICC.
Kevin Pietersen 39 (61) never looked easy in his new role as an opener but Andrew Strauss 88 (83) built a good run rate in the beginning of innings otherwise England might have struggled for a decent opening. Jonathan Trott 62 (65) continued to have fun at his usual one-down position with yet another half-century to show his amazing steadiness at international level.
Valuable contributions from Ian Bell 33 (40), Paul Collingwood 30 (23) and Ravi Bopara 30 (20) sealed victory for England, who seemed slack and unimpressive in the first half of the match. In fact, the spirited Netherlands team lost the clash only in the end which can be linked to their lack of exposure to top-level cricket, but they did win the hearts of the small available crowd, who appreciated them on stridently.
England will have a lot of questions posed over their characterless show ahead of the clash against India (one of the clash of titans in Group B). Netherlands, on the other hand can take a lot of heart from this performance and look forward with fresh enthusiasm ahead of their clash against West Indies.
After today’s match India is on the top of the Group B with better run rate. For the team standing as on Feb. 22, see the Table above.
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