Oranje's opponent kwam tot het ijzersterke totaal van 286 runs doordat vrijwel alle batsmen, op een na, in de dubbele cijfers kwamen. Het eerste wicket viel pas op 120, en van daaruit bleef Middlesex regelmatig de runs maken. Michael Swart was met 1-32/6 de meest economische bowler, Shane Mott pakte twee wickets.

Het Nederlandse antwoord startte met de stand van 16/1 (Szwarczynski run out), maar met de komst van Tom Cooper naar het wicket ging de scoringrate omhoog. Wesley Barresi ging evenals Szwarczynski run out, maar niet voordat hij 38 runs had gemaakt. Michael Swart bleef op 7 runs steken, maar Tom de Grooth en Cooper zetten de runchase vrolijk voort. De Grooth, die zich kennelijk thuis voelt op Lord's (WK Twenty, 20 juni 2009, tegen Engeland!), kwam tot 58 uit 50 ballen, maar na een kleine middle-order collaps (achtereenvolgens De Grooth, Borren, Kruger) leek Nederland bij 219/6 na 34.2 overs op een nederlaag af te stevenen. En met nog 32 runs te maken uit de laatste twee overs leek de kans op de zege al helemaal klein, maar Bukhari scoorde van de voorlaatste zes ballen maar liefst 18 runs. De 14 benodigde runs van de laatste over kwamen er dus net niet, maar opnieuw maakte Nederland op Lord's enorme indruk.

 

By KNCB UK Media Correspondent

The Netherlands team once again put on an outstanding show against the form team in English Cricket here at Lords today. Facing a daunting target of 286 from 40 over’s the Netherlands were indebted to another outstanding innings by VRA’s Tom Cooper (126no off 100 balls with 13 boundaries and 1 six) who batted with nous and guts to the end with Netherlands losing by just one run in the tightest of contests as they blitzed the last 23 balls of the 24 bowled to all corners of the hallowed turf. Indeed close analysts of the game will note the significant improvement in this outfit over the 12 month period. One year ago this team were easily outgunned by a Middlesex batting line up and failed to chase down a hearty total with any real game plan in Amstelveen. In the return fixture at Lords a breezy 70 from Owais Shah threatened to take the game away from theNetherlands before the rain came. 2011 has brought new found confidence to an outfit bereft of arguably 2 of County Crickets rising talents in the 40 over format – Kervezee and ten Doeschate – and here it showed again that this team is extremely worthy of not only being included in this competition in 2012 but for many years after that if success is any indicator of inclusion.

If truth be known this wasn’t the teams best fielding and bowling performance with the all the bowlers coming in for some hefty treatment firstly by Newman and Malan and latterly by the late middle order of Neil Dexter and the on loan Ollie Rayner. Openers Scott Newman (73) and Dawid Malan (90) guided Middlesex to a total of 286 for five but the Dutch, who stunned Yorkshire and Derbyshire last weekend, gave themselves every chance. In reply Cooper put on 126 in his partnership with Tom de Grooth (58), and Mudassar Bukhari hit 36 not out from just 18 balls as the visitors left themselves needing three from the final ball - but could only muster a single and lost by one run.

There cannot have been many more than 2,000 people at Lord's, but you would have struggled to find a single one of them who wants to see the associates shut out of a World Cup after this match. The Dutch having already beaten Yorkshire and Derbyshire in this year's CB40 ended up needing three from the final ball to win. As narrow as Middlesex's win margin was, and as excruciating as defeat must have felt, the Dutch should not find the result too dispiriting. There was a lot to admire about their performance, not least the batting of Tom Cooper, who reached 100 off 87 balls and was still there at the end. Together with ACC’s Bukhari he scored 66 off the final 34 balls, including 18 off of a hapless penultimate over from Gareth Berg.

HCC’s Tom de Grooth also played a wonderfully carefree hand, a helter-skelter 58 from 50 balls that pulled around an innings that had been steadily drifting towards a humdrum defeat. He has happy memories of playing here, his 49 from 30 being the key contribution to his team's famous win over England in the 2009 World Twenty20.

Cooper's also had to take over as wicketkeeper after Wesley Barresi injured a finger trying to take a wide down the leg side. Cooper duly produced a brilliant diving catch to remove Paul Stirling.

He played watchfully for his first 50, then noticed what good form De Grooth was in and made sure to give him the strike. After he raised his hundred, he kicked on again, inspired perhaps by the helter skelter  batting of Bukhari.

Does the ICC's executive board pay any attention to the CB40? It seems unlikely, given that the 40-over format bears no relation at all to anything that is happening in the international game (for now!). But anyone who wants more evidence that the Associates are worth their place in the World Cup found it here, and heard it in the merry roars of the scattering of devoted Netherlands fans. Each good performance adds a little more weight to their argument. Losing by 1 run is always a difficult pill to swallow and this group of players will dwell on a number of opportunities throughout the game that may have made this outstanding match one to celebrate – there were many good things about this performance. However tomorrow brings a quick return to action as the Dutch take on Sussex at Hove who were soundly beaten by Derbyshire today whom the Netherlands were victors over last weekend. Can they make it 3 out of 4 to set up the exciting series of upcoming home matches.