Netherlands defeat England

The World T20 has begun with the usual chaos and cock-ups as a bit of rain threw the opening ceremony into embarrassing chaos. But forget yet, the opening game between England and the Netherlands was massive. At first glance it looks a strange tournament opener, only 2 of the Dutch players are professionals (in English county cricket) so surely it should be a walkover right? Wrong.

After an exciting finale the Dutch won off an overthrow on the last ball. England are crushed and the Dutch celebrate a historic win. I am disappointed for England of course but thrilled for the underdog. Now England's chances in a home tournament look dodgy already, they must beat Pakistan on Sunday, thats the bottom line. The tournament needed an exciting game to ignite it, well that certainly has happened!

I think we may see more shocks like this though as the international T20 game grows, it is a leveller because of the shorter time in which players have to maintain performance and concentration. The difference between professionals and amateurs often comes down to just that the professionals can maintain their performance all day (or days).