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The greenhorn Netherlands stunned host England by registering a 4-wicket victory in the opening match of the World Twenty20 tournament held at Lord's on Friday (June 5). After winning the toss, the Dutch skipper Jeroen Smits elected to field first and his team restricted England to 162 for five in the allotted 20 overs. English openers, Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara put on to a opening partnership of 102 runs. Luke Wright clubbed 8 fours to score 71 off just 49 balls while Bopara's 46 runs came from 34 deliveries with 5 boundaries.
After the dismissal of Ravi Bopara, England struggled to score runs quickly and the team managed to score only 38 runs in the last five overs. In reply, the Netherlands clinched victory in the last over of the match following an overthrow that fetched them two runs. Tom de Grooth of Netherlands smashed 49 off 30 balls while Peter Borren made 30 off 25 balls. Tom de Grooth was declared the man of the match for his quick-fire innings which included 6 fours and a six. Ryan ten Doeschate remained not out on 22 runs from 17 deliveries to see his team home in the final ball of the match.
England lost the match because of their sloppy performance on the field. Apart from James Anderson, none of the English bowlers could maintain good line and length. Anderson took three wickets by conceding 23 runs in his fours overs while Stuart Broad, Adil Rashid and Luke Wright claimed one wicket each. Earlier England's middle order batsmen could not capitalize on the solid platform provided by Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara.
