India v Netherlands at Paarl, 12 Feb 2003 CricInfo Live Report

India v Netherlands at Paarl, 12 Feb 2003
Anand Vasu

India innings: Toss & Teams, 25 overs, End of innings,
Netherlands, Pool A innings: End of match,

INDIA COMPLETE LABOURED WIN
India completed a excruciating 68-run win over minnows Holland in their opening game of the 2003 World Cup. While the batting was patchy and left much to be desired, the bowling more than made up for this. Accurate, penetrative and far too difficult for the inexperienced Dutch batsmen, India’s bowlers were shown in a good light as they bowled out Holland for 136.

Veteran mediumpacer Javagal Srinath (4/30) continued his good form from the New Zealand tour removing Jan Kloppenburg and Jan Mol with just 29 on the board. Both batsmen edged well pitched deliveries to the men behind the bat.

Zaheer Khan then got in the act, after an initial erratic spell, when he had Bas Zuiderent well caught by Virender Sehwag in the slips.

The pacemen gave way to the spin duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh and this exacerbated Holland’s problems. The spin coupled with bounce and variation were just too hot for the Dutch batsmen to handle.

Tim de Leede feathered a Harbhajan Singh ‘doosra’ to keeper Dravid and that signaled the beginning of the end.

Anil Kumble settled into a probing line and length, scalping three wickets in quick succession and adding another late in the innings to end on 10-1-32-4. Holland slipped to 54/7 and from there limped to 136 all out. They would not have even gotten this far without the calm batting of Daan van Bunge.

The 21-year old batsman was easily the most comfortable of the Dutch batsmen. While he hardly attempted any dramatic shots, he fought hard to keep his wicket intact. Helping himself to a sedate half century, van Bunge kept the inevitable at bay far longer than anyone imagined – over three hours in all for his 62.

INDIA SLUMP TO 204 ALL OUT
India managed a recovery of sorts, reaching 204 against Holland. While this is hardly the sort of score that was expected of the batting line-up that some like to call the best in the world, even this score did not seem possible at one stage. Only a partnership of 55 for the sixth wicket between southpaws Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Mongia saved India the blushes.

Soon after the half-way mark, India’s hopes were dealt a serious blow when Tim de Leede bowling his wicket-to-wicket seamers sneaked through the defences of Rahul Dravid. A delivery that kept a touch low pegged back the stumps and Dravid (17) returned to the pavilion with the score on 91/4.

Mohammad Kaif joined Yuvraj Singh out in the middle and the pair attempted to stem the rot. Kaif (9) however flicked a catch to midwicket off the 21st ball he faced, giving Lahore-born offie Adeel Raja his first wicket of the game.

Dinesh Mongia walked out as India’s seventh batsman in this game, and for a while it looked like they might have needed an eighth batsman. After a watchful beginning, the tall left-hander began nudging the ball into the gaps for ones and twos. One delivery on the legs was tickled fine for a boundary, but the rest of Mongia’s runs had to be made in ones, twos and the odd three.

Yuvraj Singh, going well for his part, grew impatient as the overs wore down. Attempting to come down the wicket and hitting Raja for a big one, Yuvraj Singh sent a fierce drive back to the bowler. After initially palming and fumbling the ball, Raja somehow held onto it, ending Yuvraj’s 56-ball stay at the wicket. Yuvraj’s 37 included three boundaries.

After the fall of Yuvraj’s wicket, Harbhajan Singh, in his forthright manner, swatted one clean six over midwicket. The tail-ender could not last long, though, being bowled by de Leede for 13.

The rest of the tail packed up soon after, and only Mongia, run out on for 42 from 49 balls showed any application. Coach John Wright will not be happy that his side did not see out the entire complement of 50 overs, being all out in 48.5 overs. Tim de Leede, with 4/35 from 9.5 overs, was easily the pick of the bowlers.

INDIA SURPRISED BY EFFERVESCENT DUTCH
There was much talk of Dutch courage before the start of their game against India. Every bit of it proved well founded as the Dutch bowlers pegged India back to 86/3 at the half-way mark of the Indian innings. Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar were all back in the hut and the pressure was on the Indians.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Ganguly would have been surprised by the manner in which the Dutch seamers approached the task on hand. Despite the absence of any genuinely quick bowlers in the line-up, a tight line and length was maintained.

That discipline paid rich dividends, beginning with the wicket of the Indian captain. Ganguly (8) tickled Roland Lefebvre through to the keeper and walked off as the Indian contingent at the ground fell silent.

Virender Sehwag, coming in at number three rather than his usual opening position, played one scintillating shot, sending the ball racing to the fence before attempting an expansive drive against Jan Kloppenburg, only to be well caught by Bas Zuiderent at covers. Sehwag made six.

Tendulkar in the meantime seemed to be building his innings with great care. Although a couple of spanking cuts and drives raced to the fence, Tendulkar seemed in no hurry and placed value on running ones and twos.

Against the grain of play, however, Tendulkar (52, 72 balls, 6 fours) was dismissed trying to chop Tim de Leede away. The ball bobbed up straight to the keeper and India were in all sorts of trouble at 81/3. In the course of his innings, Tendulkar went past Javed Miandad’s tally of 1083 runs in World Cups.

That won't be of much concern, though, as Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh begin rebuilding the Indian innings from 86/3 in 25 overs.

GANGULY OPTS TO BAT AFTER WINNING THE TOSS
India's campaign kicks off on the fourth day of the 2003 World Cup when they take on the Netherlands at Paarl in what is likely to turn out a gradual initiation into the tournament ahead of the big match against Australia on Saturday.

After a poor tour of New Zealand, India's batsmen will probably be most apprehensive about their form, and they will look upon this game against Holland as a valuable chance to get into a rhythm. It was no surprise, therefore, that Sourav Ganguly opted to bat first after winning the toss.

The Netherlands captain Roland Lefebvre did not sound too optimistic about his side's chances in the tournament, but he promised a fighting performance against India all the same.

The track looked good for batting, the only grass populating the surface being sere and dry, unlikely to afford the seamers any additional help.

Teams:

India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Javagal Srinath, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Dinesh Mongia

The Netherlands: Roland Lefebvre (captain), Edgar Schiferli, Jan Kloppenburg, Daan van Bunge, HJC Mol, Bas Zuiderent, Tim de Leede, Rainoult Scholte, Luke van Troost, Adeel Raja, J Smits