• England v Netherlands, World T20

Netherlands prey on ousted England

The Preview by Andrew McGlashan
March 30, 2014

Match Facts

March 31, 2014, Chittagong
Start time 3.30pm (0930GMT)

Tom Cooper has been in outstanding form since his late call to the World T20 © Getty Images
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The Big Picture

After England's defeat to South Africa this is now a dead match but there is a compelling reason not to ignore this contest. Although Netherlands' barnstorming chase against Ireland to secure their progress in this tournament was fantastic, Lord's 2009 remains their greatest day on a cricket field.

A few England players are probably wishing they could board a plane home straight away and if an attitude of indifference creeps in now that they cannot progress Netherlands can pounce and secure another famous victory. They have impressed hugely over the last couple of weeks, rebounding from a last-ball defeat against Zimbabwe to progress to the second phase. They then recovered their poise after being humbled for 39 by Sri Lanka to get into a position where they should have beaten South Africa before making New Zealand work hard.

A lack of composure at crucial moments with the bat has cost them: the lower order panicked with history in their grasp against South Africa and the final two overs against New Zealand only brought 10 runs as Ben Cooper could not lay bat on ball.

For England, the problem has been the opposite. Their batting has performed solidly, more so than many expected, with totals of 172, 190 and 193, but they have been let down by the bowling and fielding. The issues with damp balls and dewy outfields only hold so much water for international cricketers. Actually taking wickets in T20 should never be underestimated and England have not been able to find a strike bowler.

Form guide

(Completed matches, most recent first)

England LWLWL
Netherlands LLLWL

Watch out for

Ravi Bopara has been in outstanding nick over the last couple of months and the debate remains over whether England are making the best of his form regardless of him being designated as the finisher. His strike-rate of 153.48 is second only to Alex Hales; he had enough time to make a brief, telling contribution against Sri Lanka but did not have the time to influence the outcome against South Africa despite 31 off 18 balls. It has also been a surprise that he has only been used for two overs in three matches.

England have seen plenty of Australians over the last few months, and haven't had much success against them. Tom Cooper has had a stellar tournament after his belated, and controversial, call-up into the squad. Like Bopara there is an argument to say he is batting too low at No. 5, but it would be an apt way to close out England's tournament if he played a key hand in an upset.

Team news

Stuart Broad's knee problem is becoming increasingly serious and the decision may be taken that now is the time for him to step aside. If so, Chris Woakes will be in with a chance of getting his first match of the tournament. Could England also, finally, drop Jade Dernbach? Don't bet on it, but if they do it would open a spot for another spinner in Stephen Parry.

England 1 Alex Hales, 2 Michael Lumb, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 James Tredwell, 11 Stephen Parry

Netherlands have the two highest scoring batsmen in the tournament - Stephan Myburgh and Tom Cooper - and the leading wicket-taker in Ahsan Malik. They have played extra matches because of the first phase, but it remains a notable achievement. Given the performances in the last two matches there is little reason to tinker with the team.

Netherlands 1 Stephan Myburgh, 2 Michael Swart, 3 Wesley Barresi (wk), 4 Peter Borren (capt), 5 Tom Cooper, 6 Ben Cooper, 7 Logan van Beek, 8 Mudassar Bukhari, 9 Timm van der Gugten, 10 Pieter Seelaar, 11 Ahsan Malik

Pitch and conditions

This will be England's first day game in the tournament so they will not have to deal with the dew that has been such a factor.

Stats and trivia

  • If Broad is fit to play, there will be five survivors from the 2009 meeting - three for England (Broad, Bopara and Morgan) and two for Netherlands (Borren and Seelaar).

  • This has been England's most successful World T20 with the bat: they are averaging 32.64 per wicket and their run rate is 9.35

  • Tom Cooper's 223 runs in this tournament is the second-most by a Netherlands batsmen in either a World T20 or a World Cup, behind Ryan ten Doeschate's 307 at the 2011 World Cup

Quotes

"It's a World Cup game, we're playing for England and we need to win the match. Whether we're in the competition or out of it, winning games of cricket is important."
Ashley Giles is demanding full focus on the final match

"I think we've proved a point to ourselves that we can definitely compete at this level. How the boys changed it around and got themselves motivated and fought all the way to the end, that's huge."
Netherlands coach Anton Roux

Andrew McGlashan is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

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