Before I begin, a few words about the new cricinfo. I have a pretty slow internet connection here in Delhi, and I find that a lot of sites take a very long time to load. One thing I was certain of was that cricinfo would not fall in that category. The cricinfo bosses thought otherwise, and totally sold out to ESPN. Now the people at ESPN believe, and always believed that WiMax is overrated, and everyone has it anyways. Well, I am a regular internet user, and I do not!
Now that I am done venting my frustration, let us focus on the game I am reviewing. The mega world cup opener – England vs The Netherlands. Before the game started, it had all the elements of a one sided game. That was before the game started. England batted first and scored a considerable 162/5. Every Dutch bowler shared the brunt equally. Dirk Nannes, the guy who kept McGrath out of a playing XI not too long ago, was the pick of the bowlers as far as the run rate was concerned.
Setting out to chase down 163, only a few optimists and bookies would have given a chance to the team who have odds of 500 to 1 to win the tournament. A few people had other ideas, though. Four people, if I am allowed to be accurate. They consisted of a guy who hates Mediocrity (De Grooth, 49(30)), two New Zealanders (Reekers 20(13), Borren 30(25)), and a guy discovered by the Essex scouts (ten Doeschate 22*(17)). Yes, you heard it last here. The Netherlands beat England in a Twenty20 game.
If someone had to dig deep to find out the reason for the upset, and if the ‘someone’ was in the England camp, the reason would have to be overconfidence. The casualness of the England game was evident. The inability to hit the stumps from point blank range spoke of either lack of practice of lack of composure. England play Pakistan next in a do or die encounter. With rain predicted, a washout would wash out any chances the Poms have now.
I would love to see Dirk Nannes play for Australia someday. I would love to see Reekers shake hands with Inzi someday. I would love to see ten Doeschate being as composed as he was yesterday, many times in the future.
I would love…to see more upsets. Boosts the ICC’s idea of T20 as a truly global sport.
Congratulations to The Netherlands.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Haha.. Reekers and Inzi will make one hell of a combo in the middle!
Liked them in soccer, liking them in T20. Go Dutch!
same here…