• 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?

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

WBBL 2021 | Perth Scorchers hold nerve to clinch win in Super Over against Brisbane Heat

The WBBL clash between Perth Scorchers and Brisbane Heat went down the wire after the Scorchers clinched a win in the Super Over. Batting first, Perth managed to put a total of 137/7 in 20 overs on the board. Captain Sophie Devine and Mooney stitched a stand of 25 runs for the first wicket before Devine was sent back for 19 off 12. But Mooney continued to score runs at the other end and she eventually struck 40 off 37 balls. The Perth team then witnessed some fall of wickets in the middle overs but a late surge from Chloe Piparo who chipped in with an unbeaten 14-ball 20 helped the side score a good total. For Brisbane, skipper Jonassen scalped a three-wicket haul at the cost of 16 runs in 4 overs. Apart from her, India’s Poonam Yadav also scalped a couple of wickets for 25 runs in three overs. In reply, Brisbane Heat had a positive start to the chase as the openers compiled 42 runs for the first wicket. Grace Harris and Jonassen then put up a partnership of 46 runs for the second wicket before the captain walked back in the pavilion for 18 runs. Jonassen’s dismissal witnessed a fall of wickets at regular intervals and Brisbane were eventually restricted to 135/9 in their allotted 20 overs. Lillu Mills picked up three wickets for 28 runs in 4 overs for Perth. Later, Brisbane who batted first in the Super Over rode on some good piece of batting from Bosch to score 12 runs in six deliveries but her efforts went in vain as Devine smashed two sixes in the over for Perth to anchor them to a win. The two teams will now play each other at the same venue on October 19.

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.