Dutch were within touching distance of creating the first upset of the World Cup but the experience of England prevailed over their rawness in the Orange City of Nagpur. All-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate lived up to his reputation by playing a gem of a knock to help his team post a challenging total. He then chipped in with two wickets but England won the match in the penultimate over.
Dutch captain Peter Borren won the toss and batted first. Alexei Kervezee and wicket-keeper batsman Wesley Barresi provided a quick start of 36 runs to the Dutch innings, scoring at a run a ball. Netherlands lost both openers at the score of 58. ten Doeschate, their most accomplished player, joined Tom Cooper at the crease and made full use of the flatness of the pitch as well as the English bowling. England was successful initially in slowing down the game through Graeme Swann and Collingwood as they did not offer any pace to work with for the Dutch stroke players. ten Doeschate was slow at the start but then picked up the scoring rate by rotating the strike expertly. After settling down, he showcased his talent and class by hitting boundaries all around the ground. Pietersen was put into the stands by him as if saying he has had enough of the wringers. Cooper went tamely for 47 after putting on 78 runs for the 3rd wicket.
Bas Zuiderent went cheaply but Tom de Grooth gave excellent company to ten Doeschate and through their rapid partnership of 61 put England on the mat. As de Grooth upped the tempo with boundaries, ten Doeschate hit two thumping sixes each off Swann and Collingwood. After reaching 200 in the 42nd over, they opted for the batting powerplay to let loose the final assault on the England bowlers who were looking out of sorts. de Grooth was castled by Broad but his unfinished job was completed by captain Peter Borren, who along with ten Doeschate went bananas in the death overs. While the latter was severe on Broad, former carted Anderson for 3 successive fours as the English fielder lost their composure. ten Doeschate completed his splendid hundred off just 98 balls with a five as he was gifted 4 over throws.
Nervousness was evident on the faces of English players at this unexpected Dutch assault. Twice they were a man less inside the circle, giving away a no ball on one occasion. They also dropped a couple of chances to go with a few fumbles. ten Doeschate was finally dismissed by Chris Broad when he holed out to Bopara at square-leg boundary. He made a memorable 119 off 110 balls that included 9 fours and 3 sixes. Borren remained not out on 35 off 24. Netherlands posted 292 for 6, an excellent total for a minnow team. Swann was the best bowler with figures of 2 for 35 in his 10 overs.
Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen strolled out to bat under pressure with the memories of the defeat at the hands of the Dutch in 2009 World T20 enlivened in their minds. The target was tough and they had to deny the Dutch early wickets. Netherlands missed the trick by bowling erratically and hence giving England an opportunity to break free. The openers put on 105 in 17.4 overs when Pietersen was dismissed by left arm spinner Pieter Seelaar for 39. Strauss who was playing freely was joined by in form Jonathan Trott. Both almost took the game away from Netherlands with astute display of batting before Netherlands struck back with a vital breakthrough. Strauss tried to launch Muddassar Bukhari out of the ground only to see the ball go straight into the safe hands of cooper who took a good catch. He made 88 off 113 balls with 9 fours. It was a good innings but lasted a few overs too few. Ian Bell and Trott denied Netherlands further success which they dearly needed and took the score to 244 in 41st over when the batting powerplay was taken. Wesley Barresi made a stunning stumping off ten Doeschate to get rid of Trott and gave renewed hope to his team as England still required 70 runs in little under 10 overs. Trott made 62.
Lack of a quality wicket taking bowler made the job difficult for Netherlands as they waited for England to make a mistake by trying to squeeze the runs. Although ten Doeschate clean bowled Bell when 52 runs were still needed, England were in the safe hands of seasoned Collingwood. He and Ravi Bopara first got going a partnership then played some measured strokes to take England home with 8 balls to spare. Both remained not out on 30. ten Doeschate was the best performer in the field too as he took 2 wickets for 47 runs with his medium pace.
For his brilliant all-round performance, ten Doeschate was named man of the match. England were saved from blushes by Strauss and Trott although the way they bowled and fielded they deserved a kick up the backside.
Match Result: England 296/4 in 48.4 overs (Strauss 88, Trott 62; ten Doeschate 2/47) beat Netherlands 292/6 (ten Doeschate 119, Cooper 47; Swann 2/35) by 6 wickets
Man of the Match: ten Doeschate
Published in SportPulse.net
ReplyDelete- http://sportpulse.net/content/england-escape-blues-and-ten-doeschate-orange-city-470