The tournament has started in a way none expected right from the qualifiers and the Super 12 stage is no less as every match has had a match winner coming up when the team is in danger. This T20 WC can be touted as one of the best T20 WC’s to be played and none would vote differently than the view presented here. India has had an exciting start to the tournament by defeating their neighbours courtesy a last ball finish with the hero in charge Virat Kohli turning the tables for the team. On the other hand, the Dutch punched hard above their weight against Bangladesh and almost gave a scare with tail ender Paul Van Meekeren showing his prowess despite Taskin’s 4-fer earlier in the innings. What lies ahead is not a one-sided game but a fight between two equal sides as T20 is a format of surprises!!!
Overview:
India: The inaugural world champions of T20 WC after their thrilling win in their first encounter would be keeping their spirits high and would like to continue their form in the tournament and fancy their chances to keep their hands on the trophy after they missed the chance in 2014 edition. The worrisome factor for the team is their openers in Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul who have been having chills in building a partnership at the top and keep the scoreboard ticking. They should start contributing irrespective of any team and provide the impetus to the team as T20 is a format of surprises as mentioned above. The team would not be tinkering with the combination mostly and if needed, Hardik may be rested with Deepak Hooda getting a nod.
Netherlands: “You don’t win or lose the games because of the 11 you select. You win or lose with what those 11 did on the field – Rahul Dravid”. The temperament the Dutch have been showing since the qualifiers is beyond imagination and they deserve more tours from the full time members so that their brand of cricket would improve and they can be more competitive in the upcoming tournaments. Coming to the Super 12 based on the back of a disappointing loss and exit from the T20 WC for West Indies, the Dutch have been proving that their entry to the Super 12 stage is justified and they would be raring to go and raise full throttle against the teams they compete this T20 WC. They started very poor in their batting against Bangladesh with their openers and top order disappointing and return to the pavilion with empty hands. But their middle order batter in Colin Ackerman, Scott Edwards and tail ender in Paul van Meekeren ensured they had a narrow loss and can keep their heads up in their upcoming fixtures. The Netherlands would also not have much of changes from the playing XI they had last match.
Probable Playing XI:
India: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya / Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh.
Netherlands: Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Tom Cooper, Scott Edwards (C & WK), Tim Pringle, Logan Van Beek, Shariz Ahmed, Fred Klassen, Paul van Meekeren
Pitch / Weather Report:
The pitch is likely to give the same amount of support to the batters in this game as well. Bangladesh and South Africa will also play a game here before this match and the result of that game will give a proper indication of the pitch. Inclement weather is likely to have a say in this game, luring teams to prefer chasing upon winning the toss.
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Date & Time: Oct 27th at 12:30 PM IST and local time 18:00 AEDT
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar
Interesting Facts:
- This would be the first meeting for both the teams in T20I format.
- With 9 wickets, Bas de Leede joint leads the charts in the wicket takers for the T20 WC 2022.
- Netherlands is the only team to have defeated England twice in World Cup, no other associate team has achieved this feat.
- Most runs for Netherlands in T20I:
Max O’ Dowd: 53 innings
1484 runs
30.28 average
- Most wickets for Netherlands in T20 WC history:
Roelof Van der Merwe: 16 innings, 16 wickets
- Most runs for Netherlands in T20 WC:
Stephen Myburgh: 11 innings, 302 runs
- Most runs for India in T20 WC:
Virat Kohli: 20 innings, 927 runs
- Most wickets for India in T20 WC:
Ravichandran Ashwin: 19 innings, 26 wickets
(Credits: My dear cricket fanatic friends)
Dream 11 Team:
