Dutch caught England

England’s ICC World Twenty20 campaign got off to the worst possible start as they slipped to a shock defeat at the hands of Holland in a thrilling final-ball finish at Lord’s.

Needing two to win from Stuart Broad’s final delivery, Ryan ten Doeschate and Edgar Schiferli were able to sneak through for a second run after Broad missed with his attempt to run out the latter at the non-striker’s end.

Tom de Grooth (49 from 30) and Peter Borren (30 from 25) had put Holland into a strong position with some powerful hitting.

James Anderson was the pick of the England attack with 3-23 from four overs, but it was to no avail as the visitors sneaked home with four wickets to spare.

Earlier, openers Luke Wright (71) and Ravi Bopara (46) impressed for England as the hosts posted 162 for five after being put into bat by Jeroen Smits.

England selected Kent skipper Rob Key in place of the injured Kevin Pietersen, while Adil Rashid was named as the sole frontline spinner ahead of Graeme Swann.

Both Key and Rashid were making their international Twenty20 debuts, along with Middlesex batsman Eoin Morgan and Essex wicketkeeper-batsman James Foster.

The Dutch side included left-arm paceman Dirk Nannes, who impressed in the recent IPL for Delhi Daredevils, and Essex all-rounder ten Doeschate.

Bopara and Wright both hit the first delivery they faced for four as England got off to a flying start.

Wright adopted the more aggressive approach of the two, yet it was Bopara who received the majority of the strike in the opening overs and he quickly moved to 20 with a superb boundary through midwicket off Edgar Schiferli.

A powerful square cut from Wright brought up England’s 50 off the fifth ball of the sixth over and he and Bopara continued to deal largely in boundaries.

Wright’s ultra-aggressive approach was in contrast to the elegance of Bopara at the other end, but the pair were combining to good effect as England laid a solid platform.

Wright punched a Borren full toss back over the bowler’s head for four to take England to 100.

It was the first century partnership for England in international Twenty20 cricket, but Bopara departed soon after as he miscued a leg-side heave off ten Doeschate into the hands of Seelaar at long-on.

The dismissal disrupted England and they struggled to regain their momentum as Owais Shah and Eoin Morgan both departed cheaply.

Wright reached his 50, from just 37 balls, at the end of the 13th over, although he was later dropped by Seelaar after hammering a drive straight back at the spinner.

The 24-year-old’s entertaining innings was finally ended in the 18th over as he holed out to deep midwicket to become ten Doeschate’s second victim.

Skipper Paul Collingwood was also caught on the boundary in the penultimate set of six as Holland finished strongly in the field.

Anderson made an immediate breakthrough with the ball for England as a wild swipe from Kervezee failed to clear Stuart Broad at mid-on.

Reekers looked in good touch at the other end, pulling Ryan Sidebottom over midwicket for the first six of the match before launching Anderson over square leg for another maximum.

The bulky opener’s cameo was certainly entertaining, but the introduction of Broad led to his downfall as another attempted pull looped tamely to Shah.

New batsman de Grooth stepped down the track to hit a superb straight six off Broad as Holland moved to 52 for two after six overs.

Young leg-spinner Rashid provided a breakthrough for England in his second over, as he beat Zuiderent in the flight and had the batsman superbly stumped by Foster.

Unfortunately for England, Borren and de Grooth each picked up four through midwicket off Rashid as the Dutch continued to stay ahead of the required rate.

With dark clouds circling over Lord’s and light drizzle starting to fall, there was the added drama of the match potentially being decided on the Duckworth-Lewis method.

And the tension appeared to be getting to England as Bopara fumbled a chance to run out de Grooth at the non-striker’s end.

Borren launched Collingwood high into the stand for a huge six, but the England captain fought back by claiming the valuable wicket of de Grooth, who slipped a leading edge straight to Key at short cover.

Ten Doeschate strode to the crease with 47 required from 42 balls and was quickly into his stride with a powerful square cut for four off Rashid.

A mix-up between the batsman gave Collingwood the chance to run out Borren, but his throw to Foster was poor.

However, Borren did depart to the final delivery of the 16th over as he skied a pull off Anderson into the hands of Shah.

And Anderson claimed another wicket with the final ball of his spell as Daan van Bunge was caught at deep point - the ball almost spilling out of the hands of Wright on the fence.

Holland smashed 10 from the penultimate over, bowled by Sidebottom, although ten Doeschate was dropped by a diving Morgan on the cover boundary.

Broad bowled the final over and, with seven required to win, Holland led a charmed life.

Schiferli was almost run out by Broad only for the ball to slip out of the bowler's hand as he dived for the stumps, while ten Doeschate offered a sharp return catch that was spilled.

Ultimately, two runs were needed off the final ball and when Broad’s throw missed, the Dutch were victorious.

source: ECB