Heavy rains at Matara postponed the start of the game between India
and Netherlands. When the umpires finally decided that conditions were
good enough to try to squeeze in 50 overs of cricket, the players took
the field. At 13:00 local time, the match was declared a 35 overs a
side game.
RV Ierschot, captain of the Netherlands side won the toss and decided
to bat. The Indian medium pacers Shalab Sriwatsa and Mrithyunjay
Tripathy bowled a tight line and met with immediate success. Opener
Postma held fort at one end while wickets tumbled at the other end.
Mohammad Kaif wasted no time in bring spinners Anup Dave and himself
on. Dave bowled superbly, varying his flight well and got good
purchase off the wicket. He turned the ball away from the right hander
and picked up wickets at regular intervals. Kaif complemented him
perfectly, not giving away anything. Bowling in tandem, the spinners
knocked the stuffing out of the Dutch middle order. Dave with 7-3-7-3
and Kaif with 7-2-6-1 ended any hopes of a comeback the Dutch may have
harboured. The last pair stuck around for five overs, and yet it was
the extras that top scored with 20.
The Indians should have had no trouble overhauling the meagre total of
58. With storm clods gathering fast over the Uyanwatte Stadium at
Matara, the Indian top order went for expansive shots and three
wickets fell in quick succession. Ravneet Ricky (3), Venugopal Rao (2)
and Yuvraj Singh (0) were all accounted for by left arm seamer Vic
Tewarie who picked up the wickets of Rao and Singh and was on a broken
hat-trick as the rains once again came down. The showers came down
unabated and the pools in the outfield forced the umpires to abandon
the game at 4.35 local time.
When asked whether the outcome of the game was forced by the Indians
inability to dismiss the last batsmen for nearly six overs, the Indian
team coach Roger Binny said that "the lack of time was the crucial
factor." He added that they "even sent a pinch hitter, but there just
wasn't enough time."
Each team comes away from the match with one point and the Dutch will
be overjoyed at the result.