It wasn't quite enough to win the match, but Ryan ten Doeschate's magnificent 119, and Netherlands' spirited batting which took them to 292, was clearly the talking point after the high-scoring game in Nagpur. There were many aspects to their innings which were impressive, and they set several memorable landmarks along the way. Despite all that, though, they couldn't prevent England from chasing down 293 and achieving the
third-highest successful run-chase in World Cups. Some of the highlights from the game:
The way Netherlands paced their innings was exemplary: their run-rate hovered at around 4.50 almost throughout their innings. After 40 overs, it was 4.70; after 50, it touched 5.84, thanks to the fact that the last ten overs fetched 104. The way ten Doeschate upped the tempo was equally impressive: at the end of the 40th over, he had scored 67 off 83. In his last 27 balls, he blasted 52, with five fours and a six. England's fielding was utterly shambolic, but they made up for it with a well-planned run-chase - their lowest run-rate throughout the entire innings was 5.30. The century pushes ten Doeschate's overall ODI average to 71.21. In four World Cup innings, his scores read 57, 1, 70* and 119 - 247 runs at an average of 82.33. With the ball coming on to the bat, the Netherland batsmen also did well to use the pace of the delivery to get the runs. Of the 27 fours they scored, only seven came in front of the wicket; the rest were all behind square on either side, often courtesy deft flicks and nudges. England's wagon-wheel was quite different, with 11 out of 24 fours in front of the wicket. England's batting was generally impressive, but Kevin Pietersen's display wasn't entirely convincing. He needed 61 balls to score 39, and played out 41 dot balls, which is a third of the total dot in England's innings. Those numbers will need some improvement when England take on India in their next game.