It is less than two years since England lost to Holland in the opening match of the World Twenty20 at Lord's – on the way to a poor showing as the tournament's hosts. They have since beaten the world in the shortest format, and until last month's ODI failures in Australia, they had not lost a series in any format of the game since September 2009. Oh, and did I mention a first overseas Ashes triumph in more than 20 years?
England do come here weary after a long winter, but there are positives. Stuart Broad, Grame Swann and James Anderson are all back in the side to face this squad and that should help against a decent side which has some big hitters in Ryan ten Doeschate, Alexei Kervezee and Bas Zuiderent.
Holland’s bowling is less than brilliant however and on a high scoring pitch (the two games here have seen three centuries and five half-centuries) England’s batsmen have a golden opportunity to get some big knocks before playing India in Bangalore.
Kevin Pietersen is never better than when he has a point to prove (a double century in the Ashes proving a point to say the least) while the likes of Strauss and Bell have more than enough class to put England firmly in control. While they should outclass their opponents, there’s no certainties here.
Advice
3 pts Ryan Den Toschate to outscore Tom Cooper (4/6 Blue Sq, 888Sport)
2 pts Alexei Kervezee to outscore Tom Cooper (11/10 Blue Sq)
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