The Netherlands head coach Ryan Cook pointed out a self-destructive streak of run outs – the Dutch side lost four of its top-order batters in that fashion — as a major reason for his side’s seven-wicket defeat against Afghanistan on Thursday.
“We do pride ourselves on running between the wickets and it’s something that we actually practice. Four run outs and not just any run outs — that are two, three, four, and five in your batting order — getting run out is not ideal. We’ll have to go back and have a look at that but it won’t stop us, it’s part of the DNA of our team. We’ll keep trying to run between the wickets and value every run like we do,” said Cook.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, is a side flying high on confidence, having won its last three matches. But it didn’t enjoy the best of starts to the tournament, losing the first two matches, against Bangladesh and India respectively.
Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott pinpointed the India match as a turning point in the campaign.
“I think we saw a bit of form coming into the side against India. Obviously, we lost the game but then that gave us a bit of confidence. There are certain things we need to get better [at].
“We need to improve on it for the next game against Australia in Mumbai,” said Trott.
Afghanistan, which is fifth in the points table, will take on South Africa in its last league-stage match, after facing Australia. The prospect of facing two of the best batting units of this World Cup doesn’t worry Trott too much.
“You’ve got to definitely prepare and have a look at how the opposition is going to play. But the thing is, we just focus on how we play and what makes us the side that we are. We’ve got to make sure that we don’t look at the opposition too much and forget about what we’ve got to do well,” said Trott.
