Ireland vs Netherlands : Irish aim to end their campaign on a high

Out to impress the Test playing nations at the World Cup, Ireland have succeeded while Netherlands flattered to deceive. In what could be their last appearance at the World Cup, both teams will look to bow out on a high when they face off at the Eden Gardens on Friday.

While Ireland gave co-hosts Bangladesh a run for their money in their first match, the Dutch impressed one and all by notching up an imposing 292 against England before failing to contain the opposition.

But things haven’t been quite been the same since. While Ireland went from strength to strength, not only shocking England in Bangalore, they also posed serious challenges to every other Test nation in Group B.

However, the Netherlands went the other way. While Ireland have played as a team, banking on the likes of skipper William Porterfield, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Ed Joyce and Trent Johnston among others, for Netherlands it’s been about one man – Ryan ten Doeschate.

While he has wielding the willow like a gladiator in their opening match of the tournament, the Dutch looked competitive. But no sooner did he start failing than the weaknesses of the Dutch team came to the fore.

Ireland was the first to train on Thursday. They started off with a game of rugby before settling down to work on their fielding.

Then they looked intent on playing some quality left-arm spin as Netherlands’ Pieter Seelaar will definitely prove to be a threat for the Irish boys. Ten Doeschate will once again bear the bulk of the responsibility when it comes to putting runs on the board for the Netherlands.

The Dutch players came to train in the afternoon and they looked to enjoy themselves, despite the scorching sun, knowing pretty well that this could be their last match at the showpiece event.

With Friday’s encounter being a day game, the conditions shouldn’t matter much and as was in the last game, the pitch will once again have something for both the batsman and the bowler. But according to curator Prabir Mukherjee, the captain winning the toss should make first use of the pitch.