Scotland went close to registering the second major shock of the World Twenty20 before slumping to defeat against New Zealand in a rain-hit match at The Oval.
A day after Holland rocked the tournament by beating England at Lord's in the opening match, Scotland delivered an impressive batting display but eventually were outclassed.
Put in to bat in a match reduced to just seven overs a side by steady morning rain, Scotland raced to a competitive total of 89 for four despite losing three wickets in the last three balls of the innings.
Although New Zealand lost three wickets in successive overs after making a good start, they went on to clinch their seven-wicket victory with an over to spare.
Scotland opener Ryan Watson took the attack to New Zealand and signalled his intentions with an attempted pull off the first ball of the innings from Iain O'Brien, which flew over the wicketkeeper for four.
It was the start of a stunning cameo from Watson, who scored 27 from 10 balls and provided the impetus for Scotland's batting display.
New Zealand did not begin to assert control until they introduced seamer Ian Butler in the third over.
Butler struck with his first first delivery to dismiss Watson, who was caught in the deep attempting to hit over cover.
Kyle Coetzer and opener Navdeep Poonia added 50 in just 22 balls to leave New Zealand, one of the dark horses for the tournament, starting to panic about the target they would face.
Durham batsman Coetzer was given one reprieve when he was dropped on four by acting New Zealand captain Brendan McCullum, filling in for Daniel Vettori while he recovers from a slight shoulder problem.
He went on to hit a brilliant 33 from 15 balls, which included three fours and two sixes, before edging Butler to wicketkeeper Peter McGlashan with just two balls of the innings remaining.
Poonia was run out off the next ball attempting a quick single and then Butler bowled Colin Smith to finish with three for 19 and prevent Scotland exploiting the last over as they would have liked.
Needing a tight first over from young Warwickshire seamer Calum MacLeod, drafted into the squad following the walk-out of John Blain last week, his inexperience showed and McCullum hammered him for 19.
That gave New Zealand the early momentum and openers McCullum and Jesse Ryder took full advantage by racing to a 51-run stand in only 19 balls which effectively settled the contest.
Scotland at least provided a battling response with Ryder caught on the boundary after hitting two fours and two sixes off the previous four balls from Craig Wright.
Perhaps the most bizarre dismissal of the match came in the next over, however, with seamer Gordon Drummond handing New Zealand a free hit after being penalised for over-stepping and McCullum drove to extra cover where Coetzer missed a regulation catch.
His fumble persuaded the New Zealand captain to take a run, but Ross Taylor misunderstood and McCullum was run out attempting to return to his crease.
Jacob Oram fell in the next over, caught in the deep off impressive off-spinner Watson, but Taylor guided New Zealand home with an over to spare with a hard-hitting 21 off 10 balls.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
A HUMILLIATING DEFEAT OF ENGLAND BY HOLLAND IN THE OPENING MATCH OF T-20 WORLD CUP 2009
England faced one of the most humiliating international defeats in their history by losing to minnows Holland in the opening match of the ICC World Twenty20 tournament.
Expected to progress comfortably past the Dutch, who only have 5,000 players in their country, the hosts instead slumped to a four-wicket defeat in steady rain under the lights at Lord's.
It is one of their most shocking defeats since losing by nine runs to Zimbabwe, who were then still an Associate nation, at Albury during the 1992 World Cup, although England had already qualified for the semi-finals by then.
Today's defeat, which was sealed off the last ball when Edgar Schiferli scrambled a two off the last ball after Stuart Broad's throw missed the stumps at the non-striker's end, means England must beat Pakistan at the Oval on Sunday to prevent being knocked out of the tournament just three days into the event.
The tournament had threatened to get off to a damp start with steady rain forcing the organisers to cancel the opening ceremony and delay the start by 20 minutes.
Even England's innings rarely threatened to provide the thrills and spills promised in the brochure after they failed to hit a single six in their innings and added only 22 runs in the final three overs.
But after recording a respectable 162 for six despite their late stutter, England quickly realised the scale of their task and the tournament sprang to life with Holland's stunning triumph.
They celebrated by running to the corner of Lord's where their fans were most populated and slid on the turf in a football-style celebration while England's shattered players made their way to the Lord's dressing rooms.
There was no hint of the drama to come when England, put into bat, began their innings and Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright once again laid the foundations for a far bigger total with a 102-run stand off 73 balls.
It was England's highest ever opening stand in a Twenty20 international from the 12th pair they have tried in just 16 matches and seemed to hint at a comfortable victory for the hosts.
Instead of build on that foundation, though, England stuttered and struggled to overcome the absence of Kevin Pietersen with a recurrence of his Achilles problems.
Having forged a stunning 119-run stand in the warm-up match against West Indies, England's openers took that form into this match and at the halfway stage they were looking at a massive total on 89 without loss.
But Bopara holed out to long on to begin a collapse of five wickets for 51 runs in 7.3 overs including Wright in identical fashion for a superb 71 off 49 balls in the 18th over, prompting a sluggish finale when England were only able to score one four in the final three overs and were unable to hit a boundary off the final 17 balls.
It was a scrappy finish which backfired badly on England later in the evening when the Dutch completed one of the greatest shocks in recent years to leave the hosts scrambling to maintain an interest in their own tournament.
Straight away, Holland made their mark with opener and part-time debt collector Darron Reekers achieving what no England player had done by launching two sixes in the first three overs of the innings.
England had begun brightly with James Anderson striking with the fifth ball of the innings to remove Alexei Kervezee and Broad having Reekers caught in the deep in the fourth over.
But it was the innings of middle order batsman Tom de Grooth which gave Holland the self-belief that they could spring a surprise in the opening match, who particularly took a liking to young leg spinner Adil Rashid after he was surprisingly preferred to Graeme Swann.
He lashed 49 off 30 balls, adding 50 off just 30 balls with Bas Zuiderent, to leave Holland needing an achievable 47 from the final seven overs after driving Paul Collingwood to mid off.
Peter Borren picked up the mantle and hammered 30 off 25 balls, including a slog sweep for six off Collingwood, to take Holland even closer to their dramatic victory when he was also caught in the deep to become the second of three victims for Anderson.
Perhaps the moment which turned the match in Holland's favour, though, was in the penultimate over when Essex all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate was dropped by Anderson at full stretch on the cover boundary and allowed the ball to trickle for four.
It left Holland needing 12 runs off nine balls to finish and when Broad began the final over, the target was seven to complete a stunning triumph.
England thought the game had turned back in their favour when Schiferli seemed to have been run out attempting a quick single when Broad collected and threw down the stumps, but television evidence proved he had broken them with his hand before the ball.
It was the reprieve which Holland wanted and, needing two for victory, Schiferli pushed the final ball back down the pitch and Broad collected again but his throw missed the stumps and allowed Holland to seal victory from an overthrow.
Expected to progress comfortably past the Dutch, who only have 5,000 players in their country, the hosts instead slumped to a four-wicket defeat in steady rain under the lights at Lord's.
It is one of their most shocking defeats since losing by nine runs to Zimbabwe, who were then still an Associate nation, at Albury during the 1992 World Cup, although England had already qualified for the semi-finals by then.
Today's defeat, which was sealed off the last ball when Edgar Schiferli scrambled a two off the last ball after Stuart Broad's throw missed the stumps at the non-striker's end, means England must beat Pakistan at the Oval on Sunday to prevent being knocked out of the tournament just three days into the event.
The tournament had threatened to get off to a damp start with steady rain forcing the organisers to cancel the opening ceremony and delay the start by 20 minutes.
Even England's innings rarely threatened to provide the thrills and spills promised in the brochure after they failed to hit a single six in their innings and added only 22 runs in the final three overs.
But after recording a respectable 162 for six despite their late stutter, England quickly realised the scale of their task and the tournament sprang to life with Holland's stunning triumph.
They celebrated by running to the corner of Lord's where their fans were most populated and slid on the turf in a football-style celebration while England's shattered players made their way to the Lord's dressing rooms.
There was no hint of the drama to come when England, put into bat, began their innings and Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright once again laid the foundations for a far bigger total with a 102-run stand off 73 balls.
It was England's highest ever opening stand in a Twenty20 international from the 12th pair they have tried in just 16 matches and seemed to hint at a comfortable victory for the hosts.
Instead of build on that foundation, though, England stuttered and struggled to overcome the absence of Kevin Pietersen with a recurrence of his Achilles problems.
Having forged a stunning 119-run stand in the warm-up match against West Indies, England's openers took that form into this match and at the halfway stage they were looking at a massive total on 89 without loss.
But Bopara holed out to long on to begin a collapse of five wickets for 51 runs in 7.3 overs including Wright in identical fashion for a superb 71 off 49 balls in the 18th over, prompting a sluggish finale when England were only able to score one four in the final three overs and were unable to hit a boundary off the final 17 balls.
It was a scrappy finish which backfired badly on England later in the evening when the Dutch completed one of the greatest shocks in recent years to leave the hosts scrambling to maintain an interest in their own tournament.
Straight away, Holland made their mark with opener and part-time debt collector Darron Reekers achieving what no England player had done by launching two sixes in the first three overs of the innings.
England had begun brightly with James Anderson striking with the fifth ball of the innings to remove Alexei Kervezee and Broad having Reekers caught in the deep in the fourth over.
But it was the innings of middle order batsman Tom de Grooth which gave Holland the self-belief that they could spring a surprise in the opening match, who particularly took a liking to young leg spinner Adil Rashid after he was surprisingly preferred to Graeme Swann.
He lashed 49 off 30 balls, adding 50 off just 30 balls with Bas Zuiderent, to leave Holland needing an achievable 47 from the final seven overs after driving Paul Collingwood to mid off.
Peter Borren picked up the mantle and hammered 30 off 25 balls, including a slog sweep for six off Collingwood, to take Holland even closer to their dramatic victory when he was also caught in the deep to become the second of three victims for Anderson.
Perhaps the moment which turned the match in Holland's favour, though, was in the penultimate over when Essex all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate was dropped by Anderson at full stretch on the cover boundary and allowed the ball to trickle for four.
It left Holland needing 12 runs off nine balls to finish and when Broad began the final over, the target was seven to complete a stunning triumph.
England thought the game had turned back in their favour when Schiferli seemed to have been run out attempting a quick single when Broad collected and threw down the stumps, but television evidence proved he had broken them with his hand before the ball.
It was the reprieve which Holland wanted and, needing two for victory, Schiferli pushed the final ball back down the pitch and Broad collected again but his throw missed the stumps and allowed Holland to seal victory from an overthrow.
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