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Ryan ten Doeschate struck his second century of the World Cup, but once again ended on the losing side as Ireland chased down the Netherlands' total of 306 with 6 wickets and 14 balls to spare courtesy of Paul Stirling's 72 ball ton. In a rare Group B contest where nothing other than pride was at stake, Netherlands put up a good effort posting in excess of 300 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata only to be run over by a 177-run stand for the first wicket between Stirling and Irish skipper William Porterfield in only 27 overs. The Irish were always in the driver's seat from then on and though they required some lusty hitting towards the latter stage, they were always well ahead of the asking rate and coasted home in the end. The result means that the Dutch ended the tournament with no points from their 6 games, an unfortunate outcome as they were clearly not the worst side in the tournament. The Irish meanwhile walk away in 6th place in Group B with 4 points from their 6 games and would still be rueing dropping their World Cup opener against Bangladesh from a winning position. However, their shock win over England means that their visit to the sub-continent was not in vain and they will always be welcome in future editions of the 50-over extravaganza.

Ireland won the toss and decided to bowl first, hoping to exploit any early moisture in the pitch. Wesley Barresi was dropped on the second ball of the match by Kevin O'Brien at second slip, not the first time that the powerful Irishman has failed to hang on to a tough chance. Barresi stole a couple of runs, but was hit by the throw from the fielder and had to leave the field in the next over to get medical attention. Eric Szwarczynski fell in the second over, caught behind off Trent Johnston for just 1. Tom Cooper fell to Boyd Rankin in the following over and the Netherlands were in trouble at 12 for 2.

A 41-run partnership between Alexei Kervezee and Ryan ten Doeschate stemmed the rot and at a good pace too, before the former became the first of John Mooney's two victims. Barresi came back out to bat when Kervezee fell for 12 and gave Ten Doeschate the company he needed to build a strong foundation. The pair added another 60 runs before Barresi was trapped in front of his stumps by Paul Stirling.

Ten Doeschate was batting brilliantly at one end, but desperately needed someone to hang in there with him to ensure that they didn't need to restart everytime a wicket fell. He found the perfect foil in skipper Peter Borren and their partnership took the Netherlands to 234 before Ten Doeschate fell to Stirling on the penultimate ball of the 40th over. Ten Doeschate would have been bitterly disappointed at getting out just when the Dutch needed him to kick on, but his 108 ball effort for 106 was an excellent innings on a very good track for batting and was etched with 13 boundaries and a solitary six.

Peter Borren took charge of the innings after Ten Doeschate's dismissal, and despite his 84 runs (from only 82 balls), the Dutch would have been disappointed at getting just 72 runs from the last 10 overs. Netherlands had the worst possible final over losing 4 wickets on consecutive balls to run outs as the tailenders committed hara-kiri out there in the middle.

Despite the poor finish, the Dutch had in excess of 300 on the board and would have fancied their chances of restricting the Irish. However, if there has been one area where the Dutch have disappointed, it has been their bowling. Since the loss of Dirk Nannes to Australia, Netherlands have failed to find that one bowler with a little bit about him to terrorize the opposition batsmen and the Irish openers took full toll.

Paul Stirling did the bulk of the early scoring, racing to 50 off just 25 deliveries, the second fastest in the tournament and 5 balls quicker than teammate Kevin O'Brien's effort against England earlier in the month. Porterfield at the other end was leading a charmed life, having been put down thrice. 

Ireland were ahead of the asking rate and Stirling showed maturity beyond his years as he stopped going for broke and made the most of the start he got. The century of the partnership was brought up in the 16th over and three consecutive boundaries off Ten Doeschate took Ireland past the half-way mark in the 23rd over.

The gentle off-spin of Tom Cooper finally did the damage as the Dutch got their first breakthrough as Porterfield departed for a slow yet vital 68 from 93 deliveries. Stirling joined his skipper back in the hutch three balls later, but not before completing his century off just 70 balls. A shall we say 'Stirling' effort.

The Dutch fought bravely till the end, hoping that one wicket would bring another, however, even though Ireland lost Ed Joyce for 28 and Gary Wilson for 27, the O'Brien brothers were solid enough to see their side home. Niall finished unbeaten on 57 while Kevin deposited 2 balls into the stands in the final over to mark Ireland's farewell in a most pertinent fashion.

Teams:

Netherlands: Szwarczynski, Barresi, Cooper, ten Doeschate, Kervezee, Buurman, Borren (c), Bukhari, Seelaar, Raja, Loots.

Ireland: Porterfield (c), Stirling, Joyce, Niall O’Brien, Wilson, Kevin O’Brien, Cusack, Mooney, Johnston, Dockrell, Rankin

Mini Scorecard:

Netherlands 306 all out (50 overs, 6.12rpo)
Ryan ten Doeschate 106 (108) Paul Stirling 2-51
Peter Borren 84 (82) John Mooney 2-59

Ireland 307/4 (47.4 overs, 6.44rpo)
Paul Stirling 101 (72) Tom Cooper 2-31
William Porterfield 68 (93) Pieter Seelar 1-55

File Photograph Copyright: CricketEurope