Ireland v Netherlands, World Cup 2011, Group B, Kolkata

Ireland openers take control of chase

Ryan ten Doeschate

Ireland marched powerfully towards their target in the first half of their chase, Paul Stirling's blazing, unbeaten 93 and a fluent half-century from captain William Porterfield carrying them to 168 without loss.

Stirling swung from the hip from the very start of his knock, literally, as the first ball he faced was answered with a wild hook and a top edge that sailed straight over the wicketkeeper for six. His second ball, an over later, was chipped over midwicket and he barely slowed down thereafter, hitting very little straight down the ground but repeatedly puncturing the field on both sides of the wicket. He plundered 19 from Bernard Loots' second over, including a second six over deep midwicket, and shortly after brought up a 25-ball half century, the second fastest in the tournament.

Porterfield was rather more circumspect but on a benign surface had no problems putting the bad ball away, and after 68 out of 81 runs came in boundaries in the first 10 overs Netherlands were forced to postpone their use of the Bowling Powerplay simply to try and slow Ireland down.

Their tactic was helped by the introduction of Pieter Seelaar's left-arm spin and Ryan ten Doeschate's medium pace. The two most accomplished bowlers in the Netherlands attack, they quickly calmed the furious scoring rate. While ten Doeschate mixed a tight line with canny changes of pace, Seelaar displayed a pleasing willingness to give the ball air, but after the speed of their start Ireland could afford to play with minimal risk when the quality of the bowling demanded.

The Bowling Powerplay was eventually taken in the 19th over, and as the batsmen attempted to pick up the tempo once again Netherlands put down two chances in as many overs to lose further ground in this match. Porterfield slapped Peter Borren to almost straight to point, but the ball burst through Wesley Barresi's hands, and ten Doeschate then got both hands to a very tough caught-and-bowled chance but couldn't quite hold on, gifting Stirling another life.

In between the missed chances Porterfield reached a 75-ball fifty and Stirling, who had raced through the 70s, then plundered three successive boundaries in ten Doeschate's seventh over. He inched towards a second ODI hundred, and Netherlands will need a moment of inspiration if they are to claw their way back into this game.