Netherlands looking to pick up steam with win over Afghanistan

LUCKNOW: The Netherlands will aim to build momentum after their World Cup win over Bangladesh last time out and are banking on their knowledge of the conditions in Lucknow to help when they face Afghanistan, Dutch all-rounder Colin Ackermann said on Thursday.

The Dutch climbed off the bottom of the table into eighth spot with an 87-run victory over Bangladesh on Saturday and are familiar with the BRSABVE Stadium heading into Friday’s clash at the venue having lost narrowly to Sri Lanka there.

“Obviously we’ve got some momentum from our previous game against Bangladesh,” Acker­mann told reporters. “I think we’re pretty lucky that we’ve played here before at this venue.

“I don’t think Afghanistan have played here before. So we’re familiar to the conditions from our game [with] Sri Lanka. Hopefully that will give us a few positives leading into tomorrow.”

The Netherlands’ hopes of reaching the semi-finals remain slim despite winning two games at the same World Cup for the first time and Ackermann said they were yet to play the perfect match with their batting unit not firing consistently.

“We know our middle order and lower order are very capable of scoring runs towards the back end,” Ackermann said. “I think if we can set the game up as a top-order – the top three-four batters … It takes two guys to form a good partnership and we’ll set up a very good score.”

Ackermann said the Netherlands would be cautious against Afghanistan’s spin trio of Ras­hid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Moham­mad Nabi. “They’ve got three good spinners that have been successful in Twenty20 cricket,” Ack­e­r­­mann added. “The 50-overs format is different.

“They’ve also got two or three very good seamers that are dangerous. So it’s about getting through the powerplay first and then combating spin in the middle overs.”

Afghanistan face Australia and South Africa after playing the Netherlands and a couple of upset wins in their last three games would boost their slender hopes of making the semis.

However, head coach Jonathan Trott would not dwell on that possibility despite masterminding stunning wins over defending champions England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

“We’re not going to make the semi-finals by just talking about it,” the former England batsman said. “We have to play good cricket. As long as we play good cricket, we’ll give ourselves the best chance of being able to do that.

“That starts tomorrow and how well we start tomorrow is going to be crucial and how well we finish.”

Meanwhile, Trott hailed team mentor and controversial former India skipper Ajay Jadeja as a crucial “sounding board” as they keep up their push for a place in the semi-finals.

Trott said Jadeja’s experience of Indian conditions has proved key in a campaign which has yielded wins over defending champions England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.