T20 WC: Team India to take on Netherlands, keep up winning momentum
Sydney, October 26: Team India will be looking to carry forward the momentum gathered after a four-wicket win over Pakistan in a memorable match that marked the beginning of their campaign in the T20 World Cup being played in Australia.
Team India's second encounter is with the Netherlands at Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.
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India are in the second position in Group 2 with two points with their win over Pakistan. The Netherlands have played one match and are yet to earn a point.
For the Indian top order, it will be an opportunity to let their arms loose as the next encounter is with South Africa. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma will be looking forward to scoring big ahead of the South African challenge on October 30. Virat Kohli, who was the star of the match against Pakistan at Melbourne, will look to continue with his good form.
The match may again test middle-order batters Suryakumar Yadav, Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya.
The pace battery of Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami delivered solid spells against Pakistan and bamboozled them in the powerplay. They will look to continue the form. Hardik Pandya lent able support to pacers with his three-wicket haul.
Though spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel did not make much impact in the first match, they can be lethal on their day. Yuzvendra Chahal, the side's primary spin option, will look to get into his best form ahead of the match against Proteas.
Team India will not be taking chances against the Netherlands which has played some good cricket against their opponents including Bangladesh, New Zealand and Pakistan this year.
Dutch opener Max O'Dowd is in great form. All-rounder Bas de Leede has performed consistently all year and has played a role in Netherlands' qualification in the Super 12 phase of the tournament. Colin Ackermann hit a valiant half-century against Bangladesh. Veterans Tom Cooper and Roelof van der Merwe offer a lot of experience that will prove handy against India.
The Netherlands also have some solid bowlers like Logan van Beek, Paul van Meekeren and Fred Klaassen. On their day, Dutch bowlers can create trouble for any opposition.
India scored a thrilling four-wicket win over Pakistan on Sunday at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. Virat Kohli shined with an unbeaten 82* off 53 balls and Hardik Pandya put up an all-round performance of 40 and 3/30. Arshdeep Singh took 3/32 in his first World Cup match, helping restrict Pakistan to 159/8.
The Netherlands, on the other hand, started its campaign with a narrow 9-run defeat to Bangladesh.
Though a bowling spell from Paul van Meekeren (2/21) helped in restricting Bangladesh to 144/8 in 20 overs, the Asian country team bounced back to bundle out the Dutch for 135 with Colin Ackermann hitting a valiant 62.
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India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami.
-PTC News with ANI inputs
