By Suhrid Barua
Both Ireland and Netherlands have been impressive right through the tournament to win the respect and admiration of one and all. Ireland brought the World Cup alive with a sensational win over England at Bengaluru while Netherlands gave the same opponents a major fright before getting pipped at the post.
Published: Mar 17, 2011, 09:18 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 17, 2011, 09:18 PM (IST)
Ireland take on Netherlands in battle of minnows
By Suhrid Barua
Kolkata: Mar 17, 2011
The World Cup dream may be well and truly over for the associate teams, but Friday’s face-off between Ireland and Netherlands at the Eden Gardens would be one final opportunity to send out a strong message to the ICC that lesser nations deserve to be part of the next World Cup and greater recognition.
Both Ireland and Netherlands have been impressive right through the tournament to win the respect and admiration of one and all. Ireland brought the World Cup alive with a sensational win over England at Bengaluru while Netherlands gave the same opponents a major fright before getting pipped at the post.
Kevin O’Brien (Ireland) and Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands) have been the stars of their respective teams with their ability to tonk the ball long. And the Eden crowd would be treated to a feast if the two come out with all guns blazing. Ireland’s batting has been inconsistent on more than one occasion. Kevin O’Brien has not been able to reproduce the savage batting he showed against England.
Captain William Porterfield has had little to show apart from his fine 75 against India while Ed Joyce’s 84 against West Indies was his best effort in this World Cup. Gary Wilson has given the Ireland middle-order the much-needed solidity and they would need one among these four to succeed big time if they are nourishing hopes of finishing their World Cup engagements on a victorious note.
In contrast, Ireland’s bowling attack has a more discipline look than their batters. Veteran Trent Johnston has spearheaded the attack admirably with John Mooney and George Dockrell offering him excellent support. Netherlands, on the other hand, has failed to fire collectively. Their lop-sided defeat at the hands of Bangladesh mustn’t have done any good to their morale. Ryan ten Doeschate has been the only spark in their otherwise disappointing World Cup campaign.
Strategy-wise, Netherlands must look at shuffling their batting order. Free-scoring ten Doeschate has been a bit of a waste at number four. The Dutch think-tank should consider pushing Doeschate up the order as the best batsman in the side should get to bat as much overs as possible. Netherlands would be better served in having someone like Doeschate open the innings with Wesley Barresi.
Australian Tom Cooper has looked good in patches, but the likes of Bas Zuiderent, Alexei Kervezee and Tom de Grooth haven’t come to the party and that has hugely hurt Netherlands. The Dutch bowling again revolves a lot around Doeschate who shown good form with the cherry as well together with Mudassar Bukhari.
Left-arm spinner Peter Seelaar has also shown that he can put the brakes on the scoring and is the team’s top-wicket taker with seven scalps and the Dutch would be hoping for one final big effort from him to tilt their scales in their favour.
On current form, Ireland hold the aces against Netherlands.
Teams:
Netherlands: (probable): Eric Szwarczynski, Wesley Barresi (wk), Tom Cooper, Ryan ten Doeschate, Alexei Kervezee, Tom de Grooth, Atse Buurman, Peter Borren (c), Peter Seelaar, Mudassar Bukhari, Adeel Raja.
Ireland (probable): William Porterfield (c), Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O’Brien (wk), Gary Wilson, Kevin O’Brien, Alex Cusack, John Mooney, Trent Johnston, George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin.
Umpires: Billy Doctrove (West Indies) and Ian Gould (England).
Timing: 09.30 am local (09.00 GMT).
Pictures © Getty Images
