Sunday, March 23, 2014

Netherlands vs Sri Lanka, 19th Match, Group 1, Chittagong - Scores, Commentary

Preview

It is a typical David v Goliath contest brewing up at Chittagong. Having pulled the rug out of Ireland with a devastating display of batting, Netherlands will go into the match against pre-tournament favourites Sri Lanka with nothing to lose. The island nation themselves will be a confident bunch, after having scraped pat South Africa in their opening league encounter. 
Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's dominant batting display against South Africa was a credit to their youngsters in the batting line-up. While the seniors failed to fire, the young turks took it upon themselves to help Sri Lanka reach a competitive score. Kusal Perera took the wheels back to the older times, showing plenty of skills and class, reminiscent of Sanath Jayasuriya in many ways. Angelo Mathews is another pivot in the middle order while the senior brigade have the experience and quality in them to provide direction to the team

In the bowling department, Lasith Malinga continues to prosper in the shortest form of the game. His package of pace, yorkers and cleverly disguised slower ones have fooled even the best of batsmen at time. Nuwan Kulasekara was expensive to begin with against South Africa, but delivered when it mattered the most, his 19th over was perhaps the turning point of the match. Rangana Herath was surprisingly omitted in favour of mystery spinner, Ajantha Mendis in the first game, and he might as well make a comeback into the playing XI.
Netherlands

Entry into the main round of the tournament seemed highly unlikely at one stage for the plucky Dutchmen. With nothing to lose, they threw their bats around in spectacular fashion to leave Ireland stunned and Zimbabwe shocked. Against the big boys in the main draw, the European nation has nothing to lose again and this might make them a dangerous floater. Stephen Myburgh has been a revelation, his clean hitting at the top of the order resulted in wins against UAE and Ireland. Their Australian import, Tom Cooper has held the middle order well while the rest of the batsmen have chipped in with handy runs. 

If there is any weakness in this team it is the lack of wicket taking bowlers. Timm van der Gugtenhas shown plenty of potential while Ahsan Malik has done well in the death overs. Logan van Beekhas been expensive, and might struggle to retain his place.
Keys to win

The no-holds barred attitude of the top-order batsmen, if it comes good, then the team can either post a big score and chase down totals with ease.
Stats

The leading run-scorer of the tournament with 151 runs so far, Tom Cooper is clearly proving why Netherlands got him into the side as a last minute replacement for Tom Gruitjers.
Quotes:

We are very proud to represent the Associates here and we hope to do the other countries proud: Netherlands captain, Peter Borren knows what it is to make the main draw of the tournament.

We never underestimate any ream, we will play our best eleven and look to win: Sri Lankan captain,Dinesh Chandimal is not under-estimating the associate nation.
Teams:
Sri Lanka (From): Kushal Janith Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Ajantha Mendis, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath, Seekkuge Prasanna, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Thirimanne
Netherlands (From): Peter Borren(c), Stephan MyburghWesley Barresi(w), Logan van BeekTom CooperBen CooperMichael SwartMudassar BukhariTimm van der GugtenPieter Seelaar,Ahsan MalikEric SzwarczynskiTom HeggelmanVivian KingmaMichael Rippon

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