We have real chance against West Indies: Dutch skipper

NEW DELHI - Dutch captain Peter Borren says the team was looking to have a crack at the depleted West Indies in their second World Cup game here Monday.

Borren, while taking into account his side’s impressive show against England and the West Indies’ lacklustre seven-wicket defeat against the South Africans Thursday, said a famous World Cup win is a certain possibility.

“We look at the West Indies side and the way they played against South Africa, we can’t wait to get out there and perform,” said Borren at the pre-match press conference at Kotla.

The team’s cause will be helped by Dwayne Bravo’s absence. The West Indies all-rounder was injured while bowling in the South Africa game and has been ruled out of the tournament.

“He is a big loss to the West Indies. He is also the vice captain. But they still remain a good side with overall options. We need to be wary of them,” he said.

The Dutch have been based at the venue for the last two days and Borren expressed satisfaction with the preparations.

“We have been practising here for the last two days and getting used to the conditions. The team has focussed a lot on fielding. Most of us have been here quite a few times before. The majority of the squad has been in Delhi four to five times. That should help.”

The Kotla pitch, which was under the scanner after coming out of a suspension, eased a quite a few nerves by playing true during the the South Africa-West Indies match Friday.

Borren hoped the pitch will play in a similar manner while saying that a dew will continue to play a crucial role.

“The pitch looks different from Nagpur and though we have not played on the wicket yet, we have not come here completely blind.”

“The dew was not a factor in our last match but it is a certainty here. There was a lot of dew around last night when we were practising. We will have to take that into consideration if we win the toss.”

The International Cricket Council’s decision of cutting the team size to 10 in the 2015 World Cup have received a lot of flak from the associate nations. Borren is unfazed and sees the current edition as a chance to shine in international cricket.

“We have got a few more games left and I see it as a chance for us to shine at this level may be for the last time. We had a good start against England and now we will try to win some games and qualify for the second round.”

Borren asserted the game back home will not suffer after the ICC’s move.

“It will have no real effect on whether or not we are trying to raise the level of cricket in Holland. The last few years ICC has been funding the associate cricket for a while. We will continue to strive to professionalise the sport.”