• Home
  • Cricket News
  • World T20 2021 Will The Golden Generation Of Dutch Cricket Get Them Through The Group Of Death

World T20 2021 | Will the golden generation of Dutch cricket get them through the group of death?

Onecricket

The Netherlands cricket team has had eventful outings at the T20 World Cups over the years which include beating England not once but twice. The first win came in 2009 at the group stage in England and the second one at the Super 10 stage in the 2014 World Cup in Bangladesh. 

Apart from beating England, their feat of qualifying for Super 10 by topping their  Group in Round 1 where they faced the likes of Ireland and Zimbabwe is also something that is remembered by the Dutch cricket fans. But all that has been years ago. Now, the fans and team itself would be looking to make it to the Super 12 from Round 1. 

Why is their target only to make the Super 12 even as two teams can now qualify from their group is because the group itself is a group of death. With Sri Lanka, Ireland and a well-formed Namibian unit in the same group as the Netherlands, it is more about getting out of it safe and sound than thinking about topping it or aiming for big wins. 

Netherland's road to World Cup 2021

The road that the Netherlands unit has travelled through to get to the World Cup has been an equally eventful one as ahs their journey in World Cups been. While they won five games in the World Cup Qualifier 2019 and lost only to Papua New Guinea, whom they beat eventually in the final to win the entire tournament in UAE in 2019. 

But due to their loss to PNG, the Dutch had to play a Playoffs Semi-Final against UAE, which they win with much ease by nine wickets. In the semi-final, they beat Ireland to book a date with PNG and then win against them to settle scores. 

It is what happened post Qualifier with the Dutch side that has kept them going, coming into this World Cup. Post the Qualifiers, the Dutch lost twice against Nepal while beating them once in their home and tied one and won one against Malaysia at the same venue. 

Post that the Orange brigade was involved in two ODIs against Scotland and three against Ireland as part of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League. They lost one against Scotland but won the series 2-1 against Ireland, their biggest ODI series win to date. 

It is with this confidence and the confidence of its players such as Fred Klaasen, Paul van Meekran, Logan van Beek and Tim van der Gugten who played in big leagues such as T20 Blast, Caribbean Premier League and The Hundred, that the Dutch team came in this World Cup with. 

In the Warm-up games, though they have lost one to Scotland, their performance against Oman and New Zealand was comprehensive, although they lost to New Zealand by only four runs. 

The amalgamation of youth and experience: Netherland's flex

The best part about this team is that this is probably the best set of cricketers that the Netherlands have got in recent time or probably in the entire history of their game.

While the likes of Pieter Seelaar, Roelof van der Merwe and Rayn Ten Doeschate have been in the business for almost two decades now, the youngsters such as Max O’Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Fred Klaasen. Paul van Meekeren and Tim van der Gugten have had the exposure that was previously unseen and unheard of in Dutch cricket. 

All these players have been regulars at County, T20 Blast and now even The Hundred and therefore come in with a lot of T20 experience. 

In terms of runs and wickets, O’Dowd has to his kitty more than 1000 T20I runs and has the only century for a Dutchman in T20Is to his name as well. Only Australia born Ben Cooper has more T20I runs than O’Dowd in the Netherlands squad. 

If Cooper and O’Dowd are top run-getters, skipper Seelaar and van Meekeren are the leading wicket-takers in T20 cricket for the Dutch side with 57 and 47 wickets respectively. 

Other bowlers such as Klaasen, van der Gugten, Logan van Beek and Brandon Glover too are handy with the leather and thus it would be a headache for coach Ryan Campbell to pick the three or four pacers to go with the spin of Seelaar and van der Merwe. 

Thus this abundance of talent in the Netherlands camp would make the team feel confident about going into the World Cup. 

Great ambitions

Even after being in the group of death, the Orange Army’s coach Campbell believes that they can get past it and march into the Super 12 as the top two teams. 

“Yes, it's definitely the group of death, but every World Cup game is tough. There are no easy matches. The other three teams also have match-winners in their ranks. 

We are confident that we can progress to the Super 12s, but we have to be at our best if we want to qualify. Our team has a lot of talent and we're flexible,” Campbell said in an interview published on KNCB’s website. 

The words of Campbell could come true, but only if the potential is utilised on the given day, starting with the team’s toughest game against Ireland. 

Can they do it?

For the Netherlands to qualify, the equation is pretty simple, win at least two games and make sure that the net run rate is at a good place. With the kind of form, they have been in the Netherlands can also win three games and has the capability of beating Sri Lanka as well, especially with the kind of side that Sri Lanka currently is. 

Hence as far as the question about whether or not can they get into Super 12, the answer should be yes. 

Netherlands T20 World Cup Squad

Pieter Seelaar (c), Colin Ackermann, Philippe Boissevain, Ben Cooper, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards, Brandon Glover, Fred Klaassen, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Logan van Beek, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren

Netherlands T20 World Cup fixtures

18 Oct - Netherlands v Ireland

20 Oct – Netherlands v Namibia

22 Oct – Netherlands v Sri Lanka

Discover more

Top Stories
news

World T20 2021 | Favourites to march through to next round, Sri Lanka have questions to answer

Who would have thought that a former champion side will not be able to make an automatic progress to the Super 12s stage in the World T20 tournament? Well, no one. But we do have a reality check here as Sri Lanka will be battling out among the eight teams divided into two groups of four. Only top two teams from both the groups can make the further qualification which means the Lankan lions will have to finish at the helm or at number two in their group to move ahead. Sri Lanka were ranked ninth as of December 18, 2018 and hence didn’t make an automatic qualification. But it is how it is and the Lankan fans would now be expecting the team to turn fortunes for themselves in this edition of the World T20. Sri Lanka are coming into the World Cup with a mixed experience as far as the white-ball cricket is concerned. They were hammered by England away from home while losing the ODI series against India on their home soil before providing some delight to their fans in the T20I format where they won a three-match series 2-1. The inconsistency continued further ahead as they did manage to win the ODI series against the Proteas but suffered a 3-0 whitewash defeat in T20Is. But the Dasun Shabaka-led side would be confident after winning both the warm-up games. Team News Sri Lanka would be without the services of three prominent names, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, and Niroshan Dickwella as the players were earlier slapped with a one year ban for breaching the biosecure bubble on the tour of the UK. The cricketers have been key members of the Sri Lankan unit but unfortunately won’t be donning the team’s jersey in the competition. But as they say, the only way is to move on. The Asian side comprises players who have a lot of ability and talent. Spin- An asset Sri Lanka would like to bank upon their spinners especially Wanindu Hasaranga who has the capability of deceiving batsmen and can return in with good economy rate. Though, Hasaranga didn’t really have a great time while playing his IPL franchise, RCB where he just featured in a couple of games for them but has been consistently among wickets for his national side in T20Is as well as in ODIs. The leggie’s economy rate in T20Is is 6.57 which is very very impressive and Shanaka can keep a lot of faith in him. Maheesh Theekshana is another spinner who recently made headlines after he scalped four wickets against South Africa in the one ODI that he played. The off-spinner is new to international cricket but has already shown glimpse of his talent in a brief career. Inconsistent batting Sri Lanka might face some struggles with their middle-order batting as the batters haven’t really fired consistently. They need someone who can hold the fort for the side at one end. Captain Shanaka can be one of the options as he did against Oman in the first T20I that took place before the start of the World T20. Shanaka scored a quick-fire 51* off 24. Another player who can play that anchor’s role can be Avishka Fernando who too chipped in with 83* off 59 in that particular match. But whosoever takes this role has to be consistent because the Lankan side is facing issues in the top order as well. An experienced batsman like Dinesh Chandimal is going through a rough patch. He hasn’t scored runs at the highest level in the recent past, barring that one half-century against South Africa in the T20Is at home. So, this is surely the area of concern for the team management that needs to get sorted out as soon as they can. Squad: Dasun Shanaka (captain), Kusal Janith Perera, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya De Silva, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Maheesh Theekshana, Akila Dananjaya, Binura Fernando.

news

World T20 2021 | Jatinder-Maqsood lead Oman to thumping 10-wicket win in tournament opener against PNG

It was a historic game for both Oman and Papua New Guinea as they opened up the extravaganza called T20 World Cup 2021. Oman’s Jatinder Singh, Aqib Ilyas and Zeeshan Maqsood made sure that it remained one for them as they thrashed the pacific nation by 10 wickets with 38 balls to spare. This huge victory will not only boost their confidence but also come in handy if it comes down to net run rate later in the tournament. The target of 130 set up by PNG never seemed to be a problem for the Omani opening pair of Singh and Ilyas, who were batting together for the very first time as openers. The fact that there were three dropped catches, one catch falling short of the wicketkeeper, one caught off the no-ball and some very average fielding by the PNG team, but that does not take away the fact that Singh and Ilyas batted brilliantly. The 131 runs unbeaten stand between the two openers is also the second-highest partnership for any wicket for Oman, missing the highest score by just one run. While Jatinder made an unbeaten 73 off 42 balls, even as he started slowly in the powerplay, Ilyas on the other end was unbeaten on 50 off 43 balls. The fifties by both these batters were the first and second respectively by any Omani batter in a T20 World Cup. Earlier in the day, after winning the toss, Oman invited PNG to bat first and used the opportunity to pick two quick wickets courtesy of Bilal Khan and Kaleemullah. However, instead of falling, the Barramundis skipper Assad Vala and all-rounder Charles Amini picked up the fight and had a great 81 run stand for the third wicket. But as soon as Amini was run out and Vala perished after completing his fifty, the first for a PNG batter in a World Cup, the team fell like a pack of cards. Zeeshan Maqsood, the Omani skipper was the wrecker in chief, picking three wickets in one over to destroy the lower order of the island nation’s batting lineup. Although PNG did not get bowled out and finished 129-9, Maqsood finished with figures of 4-20 in his four overs, the best ever for an Oman bowler in T20 World Cup. After this win, Oman would now face Bangladesh, who would be playing their first-ever game in the T20 World Cup 2021 later tonight. PNG, who have been thrashed in their debut World Cup game will face Scotland. Both the games will take place on October 19 at the same venue- Al Amerat at Muscat.