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28 March 2024

World T20: England greats turn on team after Dutch debacle

Netherlands cricketers celebrate their victory over England during the ICC World Twenty20 tournament cricket match between Netherlands and England at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on March 31, 2014. (AFP)

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By Agencies

Former England captains Michael Vaughan and Michael Atherton rounded on the current side after they bowed out of the World Twenty20 with a humiliating 45-run loss to the Netherlands in Chittagong on Monday.

Bowled out for just 88 with more than two overs to spare in reply to the Netherlands' 133 for five, defeat set the seal on a miserable tour programme for England, already unable to reach the semi-finals of this event, following their 5-0 Ashes series loss in Australia.

Early in the match, former batsman Vaughan told his Twitter followers: "I have a feeling this could be an embarrassing sort of day."

But it arguably proved worse than even Vaughan forecast, with only three England batsmen making double figures - Ravi Bopara 'top-scoring' with a meagre 18 - in an innings featuring just four fours and no sixes.

And after England's innings ended in the 18th over with a farcical run-out, Vaughan tweeted: "That sums it up.... #Garbage".

This defeat was worse than England's Lord's loss to the non-Test Netherlands at the 2009 World Twenty20, a clash that at least went to the last ball.

Referring to that match, and the 'minnows' traditional bright orange shirts - colours adopted by England this tournament - Atherton said: "(England have been) tangoed again. Unbelievable.

"This is a team that is totally shot of confidence," the former opener added.

"This has now been a six-month period, from the start of the Ashes....and this is a team absolutely devoid of confidence.

"This was bad - total disintegration in the Ashes, and a lack of improvement in the one-day game as well."

Former England coach David Lloyd, Atherton's fellow Sky pundit and also an ex-Lancashire and England opening batsman, was scathing about England's latest in a line of dreadful displays.

"We have been diabolical all winter....we can't get any worse than this," Lloyd said. "Brainless, shameful, totally unacceptable."

Monday's defeat did little to enhance the prospects of England limited overs coach Ashley Giles taking over as head coach following Andy Flower's decision to step down after the Ashes thrashing.

But former England left-arm spinner Giles insisted he was still the right man to take the side forward.

"I believed I was 24 hours ago, and I'm not sure that one performance has changed my mind," he said.

"You get bad days at the office, and this is a really bad one....but I still believe I can do the job for England."

Dutch double down on England's World T20 misery 


The Netherlands humiliated 2010 champions England by 45 runs at the World Twenty20 in Chittagong on Monday, rounding off a wretched winter for the English side that included a 5-0 Ashes series loss in Australia.

Paceman Mudassar Bukhari took three wickets for 12 runs while Logan van Beek finished with three for nine to bowl England out for a paltry 88 in 17.4 overs, after they were set a modest target of 134 to chase in their last group one Super-10 match at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium.

England captain Stuart Broad said there were "no excuses" for the defeat.

"It sums up our winter. It was similar to the sort of batting we put in after losing the Ashes," he said.

"A very disorganised chase. The bowling and fielding was okay but we lacked application with the bat, no-one took responsibility. No excuses."

England, who chased 190 to beat Sri Lanka in their only win in the tournament, never looked comfortable, despite the inexperienced Dutch bowling.

Ravi Bopara (18), Chris Jordan (14) and Alex Hales (12) were the only batsmen who reached double figures in an otherwise disappointing batting display.

Bukhari jolted England with two early wickets - Michael Lumb (six) and Hales by the fifth over - before dismissing Broad (four) to help his team repeat their upset win over England in the opening round of the 2009 World Twenty20, held in England.

Van Beek then came into his own, dismissing Jos Buttler (six), Bopara and Jordan in his short two-over spell.

Dutch captain Peter Borren was delighted at the winning finish.

"It's a nice way to end the tournament," said Borren. "We've shown the cricket world we can play. We're here representing all the Associates and with our performances shown the strength of Associate cricket.

"To see us play some smart cricket, I'm really proud. We've played a bit of 40-over cricket against these guys before and that gave us some confidence."

Earlier, Wesley Barresi top-scored with a 45-ball 48 studded with two boundaries and two sixes to take the Netherlands to 133-5 in 20 overs after they were put into bat.

Barresi added 50 for the second wicket with Stephan Myburgh, who made a brisk 31-ball 39 with six boundaries and a six.

Medium-pacer Ravi Bopara, who conceded just 15 in his four overs, dismissed Myburgh in the 12th over, while Broad had Michael Swart (13), Tom Cooper (eight) and Borren (seven) to give England hopes of finishing the tournament with a win.

Both sides lacked motivation as England, who lost two of their first three games, and the Netherlands, defeated in all three, were already out of the semi-finals.

Five great limited overs upsets 


Following the Netherlands' stunning 45-run thrashing of England in Chittagong on Monday, the second time the Dutch have defeated their Test opponents in the ICC World Twenty20, AFP Sport recalls five huge limited overs shocks:

Nottingham, 1983: Zimbabwe beat Australia


The 1983 World Cup got off to a sensational start as Zimbabwe, then a non-Test nation, defeated an Australia side featuring all-time greats in Allan Border, Rodney Marsh and Dennis Lillee by 13 runs. Zimbabwe captain and future England coach Duncan Fletcher led from the front with an unbeaten 69 before taking four wickets for 42 runs.

Cardiff, 2005: Bangladesh beat Australia


Reigning world champions Australia were 1/500 with some London bookmakers to win this match before play started against perennial makeweights Bangladesh. But a brilliant hundred by Mohammad Ashraful saw Bangladesh to only their 10th win in 108 one-day internationals amid jubilant scenes at Sophia Gardens.

Lord's, 2009: The Netherlands beat England

Lightning struck for the first time when the Dutch kicked off the 2009 World Twenty20 at the 'home of cricket' with a dramatic four-wicket success. England, without the injured Kevin Pietersen, were held to 162 for five but, with Tim de Grooth making 49, the Dutch got home off the last ball of the match when bowler Stuart Broad missed with a wild shy at the stumps and the minnows pinched an extra run off the over-throw. Broad, Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara would all experience the feeling of losing to the Netherlands again five years later.

Bangalore, 2011: Ireland beat England


Kevin O'Brien struck the fastest-ever World Cup hundred as Ireland chased down a seemingly challenging 327 to win by three wickets. O'Brien needed just 50 balls for his century and in total made 113 off 63 deliveries including 13 fours and six sixes.

Chittagong, 2014: The Netherlands beat England


Double Dutch disaster for England as they rounded off their World Twenty20 campaign in emphatically embarrassing fashion. It seemed England were half-way to victory in holding the Dutch to 133 for five only to collapse to 88 all out and a 45-run defeat - a mammoth margin in a Twenty20 match. No England batsman made more than Bopara's 18 and there were only four fours in the entire innings. Mudassar Bukhari (3-12) and Logan van Beek (3-9) were the Dutch's destroyers-in-chief with the ball.