Netherlands stun England in WT20 opener

Country that gave cricket to the world must be gutted.

In a stunning last-ball finish, England were smoked out by the Netherlands by four wickets.

Chasing a rather gettable target of 162 on an even surface that allowed batsmen to go through with their shots, the Dutch batsmen achieved the target on the last ball with four wickets to spare.

Tom De Grooth of Netherlands was unbeaten as England were stunned. © AFP

Nerve overtook the Dutch chase when their batsmen lost the momentum in the period immediately after the 15-over mark. A tremendous late burst by England spearhead James Anderson (3-23) pegged things back for the Netherlands but Ryan ten Doeschate held his nerves and stunned Paul Collingwood’s men.

The Netherlands went into the final over needing 7 runs but came up against a fired-up Stuart Broad, who conceded just three runs from the first three balls.

Schiferli was left with the strenuous task of finishing off the game, as the Dutch needed two runs off the last ball. Schiferli hit the ball straight back at Broad and ran for life. Broad collected the ball cleanly in his follow-through but failed to hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end. The result was disastrous for England as there was no fielder to back up, allowing Schiferli and ten Doeschate to come back for the second run and seal a famous victory at the Lord’s.

It was the fifty-run stand between Borren (30) and de Grooth for the fourth-wicket that held the Dutch innings together and proved to be the difference between the two sides.

Earlier on Friday, England fans were handed with the unfortunate news of their star batsman Kevin Pietersen’s absence from the playing XI due to an Achilles tendon injury. It was former Test double centurion Robert Key who took KP’s place at the number three position.

Luke Wright of England top-scored with 71 for England © AFP

For England, the adventurous opening duo of Luke Wright (71) and Ravi Bopara (46) got the team off to a blazing start, bringing up the 100-run partnership inside 12 overs. ten Doeschate, who plays alongside Bopara for Essex, dismissed his county team-mate to trigger a mini collapse for England.

Soon after seamer Edgar Schiferli got rid of the dangerous Owais Shah (5). Wright held fort and continued to play his strokes but did not find any substantial support from the English middle and lower order.

So unusual was the English innings that it was deprived of a single six in the innings. Wright’s eight boundaries were complimented by five off Bopara’s blade besides one by Collingwood.

For the Netherlands, Dirk Nannes went wicket-less but conceded an acceptable 30 runs off his four-over spell. ten Doeschate proved to be their most effective bowler with figures of 2-35 while part-timer Peter Borren finished with figures of 1-31.

Tom de Grooth was declared the Man of the Match for his stellar knock of 49 runs which was studded with six boundaries and a huge hit over the fence. All in all there were only three sixes struck in the entire game - thanks largely to a ICC regulation which got the boundary ropes in at Lord's.

England and Pakistan will come to blows on Sunday at the Kennington Oval. It is a must-win situation for the hosts, who face elimination if defeated by Y ounis Khan’s boys