Collingwood graceful in defeat

LONDON (ICC T20 WC, 2009): The Netherlands stole England’s thunder with a four-wicket win in the opening match of the ICC World Twenty20 at Lord’s on Friday.

England’s captain Paul Collingwood gave the Netherlands credit for the sensational win, saying that they chased down a total England thought was defendabel. "They played exceptionally well. We could have defended the total. Whenever we got a wicket we assumed that we could stop them but every Dutch batsman just came out and hit boundaries. They played better than us today,” he said.

Collingwood said that that they were looking at a total between 170 and 180 but the Netherlands put up a fine performance. Asked if it was tough for his players to control the ball when it got wet because of the rain, the skipper was candid, “We didn’t perform in pressure situations; there are no excuses for this loss. We have to pick up our chins and get ready for a better performance against Pakistan,” he said.

The Netherlands captain, Jeroen Smith was a pleased man, calling the win ‘unbelievable’. The minnows took a victory lap at Lord’s after the game, thanking supporters who came to the ground to cheer for them. “It is something very special. We believed that we could win after the first 10 overs. We knew we were right in the game”, he said.

The 36-year-old admitted that they had their share of luck as England missed a lot of run out chances but said they deserved to win. Smith said his team wanted to show what they were capable of. “We were total control of the match right from the beginning,” he said, dismissing that he was worried when two tailenders were at the crease in the last two overs.

Tom de Grooth, man of the match for his knock of 49 runs off 30 balls, said that the event was big for the players but he knew that they had to play to the best of their abilities and not let themselves crumble under pressure.

Having hit six fours in his match winning knock, he said, “Nothing was playing on my mind. I was taking up the challenge at each moment. A few months back we planned to upset a major (cricket-playing) nation and we have done just that,” he said.