Dutch double completes England’s winter woes

Man of the match Mudassar Bukhari (centre) of the Netherlands celebrates with teammates after their upset victory over England at the ICC World Twenty20 in Chittagong. The Dutch won by 45 runs. (AFP)AFP/Chittagong The Netherlands humiliated 2010 champions England by 45 runs at the World Twenty20 in Chittagong yesterday, rounding off a wretched winter for the English side that included a 5-0 Ashes series loss in Australia. Paceman Mudassar Bukhari took three wickets for 12 runs while Logan van Beek finished with three for nine to bowl England out for a paltry 88 in 17.4 overs, after they were set a modest target of 134 to chase in their last group one Super-10 match at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium. England captain Stuart Broad said there were “no excuses” for the defeat. “It sums up our winter. It was similar to the sort of batting we put in after losing the Ashes,” he said. “A very disorganised chase. The bowling and fielding was okay but we lacked application with the bat, no-one took responsibility. No excuses.” England, who chased 190 to beat Sri Lanka in their only win in the tournament, never looked comfortable, despite the inexperienced Dutch bowling. Ravi Bopara (18), Chris Jordan (14) and Alex Hales (12) were the only batsmen who reached double figures in an otherwise disappointing batting display. Bukhari jolted England with two early wickets—Michael Lumb (six) and Hales by the fifth over—before dismissing Broad (four) to help his team repeat their upset win over England in the opening round of the 2009 World Twenty20, held in England.  Van Beek then came into his own, dismissing Jos Buttler (six), Bopara and Jordan in his short two-over spell. Earlier, Wesley Barresi top-scored with a 45-ball 48 studded with two boundaries and two sixes to take the Netherlands to 133-5 in 20 overs after they were put into bat. Barresi added 50 for the second wicket with Stephan Myburgh, who made a brisk 31-ball 39 with six boundaries and a six. Medium-pacer Ravi Bopara, who conceded just 15 in his four overs, dismissed Myburgh in the 12th over, while Broad had Michael Swart (13), Tom Cooper (eight) and Borren (seven) to give England hopes of finishing the tournament with a win.  Both sides lacked motivation as England, who lost two of their first three games, and the Netherlands, defeated in all three, were already out of the semi-finals. South Africa had qualified for the last four stage.  

Dutch captain proud to unfurl associates flag Netherlands’ captain Peter Borren said victory was not just a proud moment for the Dutch but showcased the strength of Associate Cricket to the world. Having themselves suffered the ignominy of being dismissed for a record low 39 against Sri Lanka a week ago, Borren was happy to have proved a point. “I said that after we were bowled out for 39 against Sri Lanka. We are here representing all the associates,” the all-rounder said. “In the last three games we have done them proud and the last three games we have probably shown the strength of associate cricket.” Associate status for cricketing nations is the second tier of membership behind the 10 Test-playing countries in the International Cricket Council. “Tonight we were pretty much spot on for the whole innings with the ball and on the field. It was really nice way to finish the tournament,” Borren said. “It was an achievement in itself for us to qualify for this stage. I think people back home will be pretty proud with our effort and we showed the cricketing world that we can play cricket.” After managing 133 for five in their 20 overs, Borren was not confident of repeating their win over England in the 2009 edition of the tournament. “We sort of came into the second half of the game and thought we probably haven’t got enough.” he added.  “But I did ask the guys ‘can we just put one last effort? We get on the plane tonight, can we leave everything out there?’ We had some good plans and we executed them really well. I am really, really proud of the boys.”