Sunday, February 20, 2011

England wary of another Dutch debacle

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Nagpur, Feb 20 (AFP): Matt Prior has insisted England will treat the Netherlands just like Australia when the two sides clash in their World Cup opener here on Tuesday.

England will be overwhelming favourites just as they were when they faced the Dutch in the opening match of the 2009 World Twenty20 at Lord's.

However, the Netherlands went on to clinch a shock four-wicket win off the last ball.

England wicketkeeper Prior may not have faced the Netherlands before but he knows Dutch batsman Bas Zuiderent from the time the duo spent together at county side Sussex.

And with the Dutch effectively frozen out of future World Cups by the decision of the International Cricket Council to reduce the number of teams in subsequent editions from 14 to 10, Prior knows how fired up the Netherlands, who have several county players in their squad, will be for Tuesday's match.

"I've played a lot of cricket with Bas Zuiderent at Sussex," said Prior.

"We're very good mates, and then there's Ryan ten Doeschate at Essex.

"The one thing I do know is that they're very keen to cause an upset. I met up with Bas last (Saturday) night. They're very excited about being here and causing an upset and taking one of the big teams down."

"They're a team you cannot under-rate or be too complacent against. We've seen what happened in the past and we don't want that to happen again."

"We'll be taking them very seriously, as seriously as any other team in this World Cup. You always want to start a competition with a good performance, no matter who you're playing against."

Meanwhile ten Doeschate said memories of 2009 would help bolster Dutch resolve ahead of their tournament opener.

"That will be part of our preparation," he said. "Tomorrow (Monday) we'll look at some of the footage more from an inspiration point of view. But, like anything, until you've done something once you don't really know what it's about."

"Having beaten them in England should stand us in good stead. When we walk out on Tuesday hopefully some of those feelings will come back and that gives us a bit more of a chance," the all-rounder, who will play in the Indian Premier League for Kolkata, added.

And he said playing England, who've just come off a lengthy tour of Australia, represented the Netherlands' greatest opportunity of causing a major shock at this World Cup.

"It's the best chance we're going to have in terms of where they are."

"They've had a few changes to their squad, a few injuries and a very long Australia tour behind them, so if there ever was a good chance to catch them it's the first game again of another World Cup."

"We've done all our preparation and are in our best state to cause an upset at the moment."


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