Feb 22 - Netherlands scored 292-6 in their Group B match against England on Tuesday.
Netherlands 292-6 (R. ten Doeschate 119) v England
The Netherlands batting line-up blended obdurate resistance with a measure of flair on an easy-paced wicket to push along to a solid 119 for 2 at the halfway mark of their World Cup opening fixture against England at Nagpur. After a lively cameo from the rookie wicketkeeper, Wesley Barresi, it was left to the established pair of Tom Cooper and Ryan ten Doeschate to keep the scoreboard ticking in an unbeaten 61-run stand for the third wicket.
Two years on from his side's shock victory in the opening match of the World Twenty20 at Lord's in 2009, the Dutch skipper Peter Borren won the toss and trusted the men at his disposal to post a competitive total. They started with some aplomb, as Barresi and Worcestershire's starlet Alexei Kervezee picked off a boundary apiece as James Anderson and Stuart Broad strayed onto the pads in their first overs, before Kervezee launched Anderson over mid-on for another four.
Broad showed good pace and aggression in his first proper international for two months, having sustained a stomach injury during the Ashes, but his third over was dispatched for 13 as Barresi fenced a lifter through the clutches of Matt Prior behind the stumps, before giving himself room outside leg to pick off two more off-side fours in the same over.
It was Tim Bresnan, recovered from the calf injury that curtailed his one-day campaign in Australia, who made the first breakthrough, as Kervezee got underneath an attempted pull and top-edged a looping chance straight into Prior's gloves for 16. Cooper was then gifted a leg-stump half-volley to get off the mark first-ball, as he and Barresi marked the start of the end of the bowling Powerplay by taking Netherlands to a comfortable 57 for 1 after 11.
Graeme Swann, back with the squad following the birth of his son Wilfred, and thrust straight back into the starting XI, did as he invariably does and struck in the first over of his spell, as Barresi dragged his back foot out of the crease as he was beaten outside off, and Prior whipped off the bails to end a 25-ball innings of 29.
Ten Doeschate, the kingpin of the Dutch batting line-up, was greeted by the nagging medium pace of Paul Collingwood, whose canny offcutters could have a big role to play in this tournament. He used his wrists well to pick off a pair of boundaries in a three-over spell, before Andrew Strauss returned to the pace of James Anderson in a bid to break the stand. But he was unable to do so, as the Dutch pair extended their stand with a succession of easy singles.
In the absence of the second spinner, Michael Yardy, Kevin Pietersen was tossed the ball to give his offspin an airing, but Cooper cut a short ball through third man to bring up the hundred in the 24th over, before Collingwood's fourth over was greeted with a one-bounce four from ten Doeschate over wide mid-on.
England 1 Kevin Pietersen, 2 Andrew Strauss (capt), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Graeme Swann, 11 James Anderson.
Netherlands 1 Alexei Kervezee, 2 Wesley Barresi (wk), 3 Tom Cooper, 4 Ryan ten Doeschate, 5 Bas Zuiderent, 6 Tom de Grooth, 7 Peter Borren (capt), 8 Mudassar Bukhari, 9 Pieter Seelaar, 10 Bernard Loots, 11 Berend Westdijk.
