The Dutch must not go the Kenya way

In the end, Netherlands seem set to finish this ODI World Cup exactly how they were expected to -- at the bottom of the points table. Although they beat West Indies and finished runners-up in the World Cup qualifiers in July in Zimbabwe, nobody would have frankly anticipated more from a team that had to scour for sponsors and net bowlers for their week-long camp in Alur near Bengaluru before the tournament. Certainly not from a team playing its first ODI World Cup in 12 years.

- Vivek Krishnan

And yet, the Dutch have had their moments. None bigger than beating South Africa for the first time in ODIs, as if to show that their triumph in the T20 World Cup in Australia last year wasn’t an anomaly. In Pune on Wednesday, they were also going toe-to-toe with England for the first 35 overs of the game before Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes cobbled together a 129-run stand to ensure the defending champions didn’t plummet further. 

Other than these transient spikes, though, it’s been a journey of stark learnings and self-discovery for the Dutch players through their travels in India over the past month -- from attempting to imbibe nuances such as the importance of rotating strike under pressure to a general understanding of what it takes to compete with the best teams at the highest level.

What can the Dutch do with these lessons though?

Because for the foreseeable future, these players will return to obscure surroundings, unsure of when they will get to rub shoulders with the cream of international cricket again. The ODI Super League, which allowed Netherlands to play bilateral contests against South Africa, England, Pakistan and New Zealand in the 2020-23 cycle, has been scrapped.