Chittagong, Bangladesh: Netherlands captain Peter Borren apologised to all of cricket’s associate members after his side collapsed to 39 all out against Sri Lanka in the ICC World Twenty20 on Monday.
The Dutch had smashed an impressive 193 for four in just 13.5 overs to beat Ireland in the qualifying round and reach the Super-10 stage, but they crumbled on the big stage, being bowled out in 10.3 overs and losing by nine wickets. Sri Lanka knocked off the target in just five overs — the biggest margin in terms of balls to spare, 90 in this case.
Amidst the shambles, Tom Cooper was the only batsman who reached double figures with 16, and his brother Ben Cooper made eight, while the rest flopped. The previous lowest total in a Twenty20 international was 56 made by Kenya against Afghanistan at Sharjah in 2013.
The Dutch captain said his players were embarrassed. “We let a few people down. It was just us representing the Associates and we’ve got to do a lot better,” Borren said.
“Everything was a bit of a rush. It’s not the first time the top-order has played at this level and it’s not been this bad.
“It was always going to be a struggle for the lower order against [Ajantha] Mendis and [Lasith] Malinga. The guys up in the dressing room are very embarrassed and hopefully we can show you guys in the next few games what we can really do.”
Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal said Angelo Mathews did the initial damage.
“Angelo gave a good start and Malinga and Ajantha finished it off. I am very happy. We won’t be underestimating any team,” he said.
