Every world cup witnessed one or two heroic performances from the associate teams that let them snatch a surprising win against the test side. Kenya did that couple of times in the past, and Ireland did it in the last world cup. Who can forget Pakistan embarrassing defeat against the amateur Irish team in the match where the whole Pakistani batting line up crumbled down to 132 runs.
If it is upsetting to see how the top cricket nation falters against the weak side, it is also very interesting to see how the lower ranked cricket team could grab a winning moment with the lack of international exposures and the limited resources they have. The Dutch side were about to make a history yesterday when they played against England in their first world cup match of 2011. The associate teams had lost all their matches heavily so far and thus, people had not expected Netherlands to be any exception. The match was against English side that had grown stronger in limited overs cricket in recent times, though losing to Australia 6-1 must have faded their glory by some margin. But, the opponent this time for England was not Australia, it was Netherlands that had no past record of upsetting the giant. The match could have been pretty one sided if the Dutch team had not got one name, Ryan Ten Doeschate.
Bravo Ryan Ten Doeschate
Though England won the match at last, it was the Dutchman Doeschate, who stole the whole show. Netherlands scored unbelievable 292 in their allocated 50 overs, greatly inspired by Doeschate's 119 runs that were scored in just 110 runs. He hit the balls out of the ground 12 times that included 3 massive sixes. During England's inning, he eliminated dangerous looking Trott and Bell off his bowling and brought back the Orange back to fight. His bowling figure of 47/2 with economy rate of 4.7 is exceptionally well as England was romping towards target at run rate above 6. It was because of his allround performance that earned him man of the match.
Who is Ryan Ten Doeschate
Being in a less popular Netherlands side, many cricket spectators may not know this man well. But he is the well known name in the English county circuit. In International ODI matches, he averages above 70, though most of his matches are against the associate sides. We can claim him the best batsman in the Associate cricket. His biggest strength in the match against England was his familiarity with English playing style as he had competed against most of them in the county cricket. He played for Essex in 2010. He is a part of Kolkata Knight Riders team for IPL season 2011. The KKR should be very hopeful for this chap after this performance against England. Best of luck for the world cup and IPL, Ryan!!
