Netherlands, coming from a victory over the UAE, will look ahead past the much controversial Tim Gruijters' replacement by Tom Cooper. A win over Zimbabwe on Wednesday at Sylhet will give them a chance to battle it out for a place in the Super 10.
Cooper distanced himself from the heat off the field and earned the man-of-the-match award by picking up two crucial wickets and putting up an unbeaten 34 to see his team through on Monday. Peter Borren, the Netherlands skipper, said that his team wasn't worried about the controversy, where Gruijters claimed he had been deemed injured on purpose so that Australian-born Cooper could be selected into the squad.
"I don't think there was ever an issue of whether or not Tom was going to vindicate his selection," Borren said. "He is a fantastic all-round cricketer. It's an unfortunate thing to have happened to Tim and I am sure he is very disappointed about it.
"It really hasn't been a huge talking point within the squad. The boys were pretty keen on getting out here, enjoying the day. We wanted to come here and play some good cricket. As for galvanising the squad, perhaps, I don't know. For me, it didn't change my focus too much."
Zimbabwe have been amidst no such drama, their focus is on the game despite losing in the last-ball to Ireland in their first match. They will have to hope that Ireland lose a match to stand a chance of qualifying for the next round.
Skipper Brendon Taylor, himself, scored 59 quick runs adding to their total of 163 against Ireland in their first World T20 qualifier. While the bowlers failed to defend the decent total, the skipper felt it was up to the batsmen to step up.
"The batsmen need to put a high price on their wickets and have to step up," Taylor said. "There is no point leaving it for the next man coming in because he takes five to six balls to get going, so the game stop-starts."
The two teams have never played a T20 international against each other before. It'll be interesting to see the tactics they adopt.
"When we lose, we generally do come back stronger," the skipper said ahead of their maiden encounter with the Dutch. "We now realise that we need two very good games if we have to have half a chance of getting through.
"We will not look too far ahead. It's clear for us and we know what we have to do. I am pretty sure we will put up a much improved show in our next game."
Where to Watch Live:
World T20 2014: Netherlands vs Zimbabwe Live TV and Streaming Information (Match starts 3.30 pm local time, 3 pm IST, 9.30 am GMT, 5.30 am ET)
Country | TV Broadcaster |
India | Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD2 |
US and Latin America | ESPN |
Canada | Sportsnet |
UK and Ireland | Sky Sports |
Middle East and North Africa | OSN Sport Cricket |
Australia | Fox Sports |
Sub Saharan Africa & South Africa | SuperSport |
New Zealand | Sky Sport |
Europe | EuroSport |
Pakistan | PTV and Ten Sports |
Sri Lanka | CSN |
Bangladesh | Bangladesh TV, Maasranga TV and Gazi TV |
Country | Online links |
India | HERE |
US | HERE |
UK | HERE |
Middle East | HERE |
Canada | HERE or HERE |
Australia | HERE |
South Africa & Sub Saharan Africa | HERE |
Latin America | HERE |
New Zealand | HERE |
Europe | HERE |
Pakistan | HERE or HERE |
Sri Lanka | HERE |