Feature

Swann's early strike and England's sleepy fielding

Plays of the day from the 5th match of the 2010 World Cup between England and Netherlands at Nagpur

Stuart Broad could barely watch some of England's shoddy fielding  •  Getty Images

Stuart Broad could barely watch some of England's shoddy fielding  •  Getty Images

Opening act
Graeme Swann is the best spinner in the world and he proved that again today. He started his World Cup campaign on the back of just a day's work in the nets (on Monday) having arrived late from England where he was attending to the birth of his first child. The distractions did not matter as he continued with the legacy of picking a wicket in his first over when he had the dangerous-looking Wesley Barresi stumped on his fourth delivery. It was 12th time Swann had picked a wicket in his first over in ODIs.
Six of the day
Ryan ten Doeschate's six off Graeme Swann. With his tendency to flight the ball Swann challenges the batsman to take him on, but the margin for error for his opponent is bare minimum. Still, ten Doeschate charged an off break, before smartly using his wrists to flick the ball over deep mid-wicket for his second six of the match in the 35th over, which opened the flood gates for the Dutch, as they ransacked 130 runs off the last 15 overs.
Drop of the day
A straightforward catch: ten Doeschate, on 47, stepped out against Swann to try and clear the straight boundary. He did not time it well as the ball went sky high. It seemed an easy picking for either of the men rushing in from long-on and long-off respectively: Jimmy Anderson and Kevin Pietersen. Yet for some unknown reason both men stopped suddenly, probably thinking the other would go for the catch. Embarrassingly the ball dropped in the yard that separated the two. Both walked back to their spots heads down. Swann stood at the wicket, hands on hips, staring unbelievingly at the gaffe. Look out for his twitter post later.
No cheer for England
Stuart Broad, brought back in the batting Powerplay, defeated Peter Borren with a lovely yorker with the bails flying high and wide. But just as the Dutch skipper was about the cross over the boundary rope, he was called back by the umpire because England had placed only three fielders inside the 30-yard circle. It was turning out to be an evening of blunders for the Ashes winners. It was Broad's turn to kick the ground in disgust.
Wake up Nagpur
The Orange were playing the orange city. Yet there was hardly any orange in the ground barring the colours worn by the Dutch team. About two thousand enthusiasts still turned up at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground, which is located terribly outside the city limits. The fans did keep the tempo somewhat high in the afternoon when ten Doeschate stepped on the accelerator, but as the evening grew old the crowds fell silent. To wake them up the ground DJ used the 'shout meter' at the change of overs to increase the decibel level.
Seelar turns handball 'keeper
England needed 23 runs from the final three overs. Pieter Seelaar, the left-arm spinner bowled a straighter one, which Ravi Bopara stepped out and punched hard back down the ground. Seelar, in a moment of reflex, used his right ankle, as would a goalkeeper in a handball contest, to deflect the ball and convert a possible double into one. The Dutch remain inspired till the end with such spirited fielding that kept England on the edge throughout.

Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo