adminCape Town – The Netherlands upset 2010 champions England by 45 runs at the World Twenty20 in Chittagong yesterday, with paceman Mudassar Bukhari and Logan van Beek taking three wickets apiece.Bukhari took 3-12 while van Beek finished with 3-9 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, 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 Stuart 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.
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 Peter 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.
South Africa had qualified for the last four stage.
Title-holders the West Indies and Pakistan meet in Dhaka on today to decide who joins India in the semis from group two.
Meanwhile, Graeme Smith has questioned England captain Stuart Broad, suggesting the bowler valued his personal stats above the interests of the team.
Broad will look forward to the future after a miserable winter ended with an ICC World Twenty20 exit in Chittagong on Saturday. England went down by three runs in a pulsating Super-10 stage Group One match against South Africa, ending their semi-final hopes after two defeats in three matches.
That ended a frustrating last few months for England who lost the coveted Ashes in Australia, a whitewash which turned acrimonious with the axing of key batsman Kevin Pietersen.
But Smith poured fresh scorn on the English Twenty20 bowler when he questioned the 27-year-old’s captaincy credentials on Twitter following the Proteas’ victory over England, writing: “Could be mistaken but never saw broad bowl in power play or death overs!protecting himself?”- Sport24.
Online Reporter