NEWS
Follow UsIn the ICC Super League, the Netherlands found out their recipe for success - they ran more doubles than many sides, and it suddenly became a philosophy they so passionately adhered to. So much so that, in the face of adversity and when boundaries are difficult, they ran doubles to make for that.
But on Friday, the effort hardly reaped any dividends against Afghanistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. So lackadaisical were their running between wickets that four batters ended up being run out - an event that virtually altered the course of the game. Ryan Cook took cognizant of the fact but added that they are a side with a lot of confidence in their running between wickets and run-outs on Friday won’t have a significant impact on their fortune.
“Yeah, we do pride ourselves on running between the wickets, and it's something that we actually practice, probably not much like other teams, but we do put a lot of time and effort into it. And obviously, our turning technique and our running between the wickets in terms of the speed and stuff, we do a lot of training on that. So that's something that our game is built on, and we do pride ourselves on that,” Ryan Cook said in the post-match press conference.
“Obviously, today, as you can see, four runouts, and you know not just any runouts that are two, three, four, and five in your batting order getting run out is not ideal, and probably some decision-making inside of that as well.
“So yeah, we'll have to go back and have a look at that, but it won't stop us; it's part of our DNA of our team, and we'll keep trying to run between the wickets and value every run like we do.”
Was the run-outs a byproduct of players failing to judge the dimension of the ground, especially on bigger venues like the one in Lucknow? But Cook doesn’t want to single that out as a reason.
“I think in a situation like that, it's probably the mentality of the batsmen as well. They're not looking to try and hit the balls in the gap. They're just trying to get better on ball and sort of take the innings a little bit deeper. There were only two games ago against Sri Lanka at this very venue where we got 27 twos.
“So, you know, it is something that we're going to continue to do and it's a reason why we've been successful to this point. Obviously, we don't like to be outrun by any team and they certainly did make a conscious effort to try to shut down the twos by standing well off the boundaries, which obviously we try to do as well in the field. So, credit to them for the fielding as well. They were some really good pieces of fielding throughout the day,” Cook added.
Even though the Netherlands are still in contention for a spot in the semi-finals, that dream may never materialize if New Zealand beat Pakistan in Bengaluru and Australia get the better of England in Ahmedabad. However, this has been a fantastic campaign for the Dutchmen - something they want to build on going forward.
“We've come out and said we wanted to make the semifinals. I think all the teams would have wanted to do that at the start of the tournament and I certainly would want to play for a coach and a captain that sort of wants that from the team and believes in the team that they can achieve that.
“We've still got two games to go, and we can get ourselves up to four wins. And that's sort of what we'll be talking about in the change room from now on. The semifinals obviously look very distant from here. But I think at the end of the day, we keep striving to be a better team day by day. And we'll obviously be putting in big performances in the next couple of days,” the Netherlands coach concluded.
