Their intent was clear under a blazing sun on Friday. The Men in Orange trained hard, the batters spending considerable time at the nets, the bowlers steaming in.
After recording one of the biggest upsets in cricket World Cup history, the Netherlands must be hoping to put up another great show on Saturday at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium, against Sri Lanka. The commanding win at Dharamshala would have boosted the morale of Scott Edward’s men, who have shown why they aren’t happy being referred to as an associate nation.
They had arrived in India wanting to make the semifinals. They aren’t here just to tell their grandchildren that they have played in cricket’s most prestigious tournament. And they surely wouldn’t want to rest on the laurels of the South Africa game. They may not mind avenging their twin losses to Sri Lanka in the World Cup qualifier.
If they could replicate the passion, the resilience and the preparedness that they displayed against South Africa, the former champion could well have a tough task. Skipper Edwards had played the key role in that game with his gritty knock that gave the bowlers a defendable total.
The captain should be expecting more from his main batters, like Teja Nidamanuru, Max O’Dowd and Vikramjit Singh, who have scored just one fifty between them from the three matches thus far. The bowlers, be it the seamers Logan van Beek and Paul van Meekeren or spinners Roelof van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt, would be looking to continue from where they left off at Dharamshala.
Sri Lanka, admittedly troubled by injuries, needs better efforts from its bowlers.
In the very first match, they were at the receiving end against the South African batters, who piled up 428 for five to break the tournament record for the highest score, and have continued to struggle.
As the only team that hasn’t been able to post a win yet, even after three games, the Lankans cannot afford another bad game.
They must be hoping the likes of the two Kusals — Mendis and Perera — and Sadeera Samarawickrama make enough runs.
