Netherlands hammer hapless England

Minnows overcome 2010 champions by 45 runs.

CHITTAGONG: The Netherlands humiliated 2010 champions England by 45 runs at the World Twenty20 in Chittagong on Monday, 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 1, Super-10 match.

England captain Stuart Broad said there were ‘no excuses’ for the defeat.

"It sums up our winter,” said Broad. “It was similar to the sort of batting we put in after losing the Ashes.

"It was a very disorganised chase. The bowling and fielding was okay but we lacked application with the bat, no one took responsibility. There are 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.

Dutch captain Peter Borren was delighted at the winning finish.

"It's a nice way to end the tournament," said Borren. "We've shown the cricket world we can play. We're here representing all the Associates and with our performances shown the strength of Associate cricket.

"I’m really proud to see us play some smart cricket. We've played a bit of 40-over cricket against these guys before and that gave us some confidence."

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2014.

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