Minnows Netherlands upset England by 4 wickets

They batted with steely resolve to eke out a sensational victory,riding on small but crucial contributions from Tom de Grooth (49) Peter Borren (30) and Ryan Ten Doeschate (22 not out).

Doeschate held his nerves in the dying moments of the edge-of-the-seat clash to steer his side to a memorable win after playing a part with ball too.

Dutch needed seven runs off the last over,bowled by Stuart Broad and romp home in the last ball when Doeschate and Edgar Schiferli ran two.

Grooth,adjudged Man-of-the-Match,had kept his side in the hunt by his brave 30-ball knock and also raised a crucial 50-run partnership with Borren before becoming the victim of rival skipper Paul Collingwood.

The Netherlands bowlers bowled extremely well in the second half of the England innings,nullifying the brilliant work done by their openers Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright.

The Dutch chase was far from ideal as they lost Alexi Kervezee (1) in the very first over but Darron Reekers (20) played some magnificent shots to lift the spirit of his team.

He hit both Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson for a six each. However Stuart ended his knock by having him caught by Owais Shah.

Bas Zuiderent (12) followed Reekers and then Grooth took on the challenge and single handedly shaped the Dutch innings.

Earlier after sent in to bat,Wright (71) and Bopara (46) played beautifully to provide a brilliant start to England.

The duo played some fluent strokes in their entertaining opening 102-run stand but lack of partnerships in the end put paid to England hopes of a big score though they still posted a decent 162 for five.

Doeschate,who dismissed both Bopara and Wright,was the most successful bowlers for the Netherlands.

While the first half of England innings belonged to Bopara and Wright,the second was purely of the Netherlands bowlers who struck intermittently to bring their side back in the match.

England openers laid a strong foundation for a big score but the hosts by scoring 100 runs in just 11 overs but the hosts lost quick wickets later on to lose plot.

Once Bopara,who hit five fours in his 34-ball knock,was dismissed in the 12th over,England struggled to score as batsmen got out in hurry.

Bopara provided an apt start to the second edition of the T20 World Cup by hitting the first ball of the slam-bang event for a boundary off Dirk Nannes.

Both Wright and Bopara hit boundaries with ease and rotated the strike to keep the scoreboard ticking as the duo raised 50 runs within first six overs.

As the innings progressed,the stroke-making became easier and two batsmen got involved in a sort of battle to outscore each other.

Dutch bowlers bore the brunt of this competition between the English batsmen,as scoreboard was reading 89 without loss at half-way mark.

It was Doetschate who stemmed the rot by sending back Bopara,who went for maximum,miscued the shot and ended up in the hands of Seelaar.

Owais Shah (5) joined Wright in the middle but only to return early. Wright completed his half-century but the twin-blow put some brakes on the scoring rate.

The stage was set for a massive score for the hosts but suddenly Dutch side began dominating as Eoin Morgan (6) and skipper Paul Collingwood (11) too started their walk back to dug out.

Wright kept one end for some time but as pressure mounted to get some runs,he,trying to break the shackles got out but not before hitting eight fours in his 49-ball knock.