If Australia win the World Cup, said a reporter in the press box on Thursday, I’ll be a Dutchman. Actually he will be. He’s the only Dutch journalist covering Holland and he was at the North-West Stadium to watch his compatriots go down by 75 runs to Australia in one of those complicated Duckworth-Lewis affairs.
Overnight rain delayed the start of the Pool A match by an hour as a traffic department helicopter was employed to dry out the area around the table.
Apparently the absence of the eye in the sky made no difference whatsoever to Potchefstroom’s morning rush-hour.
Two further interruptions for drizzle during the Australian innings added up to a total of 169 minutes lost to the elements and permitted each to bat for only 36 of their regulation 50 overs. The Australians made 170 for two, but Duckworth and Lewis decreed that Holland’s target be readjusted to 198.
If this hardly seems fair, it wasn’t, but to their credit the Dutchmen had as much of a go as they could. To Australia’s credit, they took their opponents seriously, and while Holland could only manage 122 off 30.2 overs in the end, they battled all the way and there was no disgrace whatsoever in defeat.
After all the rain, the pitch was a slow seamer. You could, of course, say much the same of the entire Dutch attack, but despite tossing up one bad ball an over, they made the world champions concentrate.
Mattie Hayden took 60 balls for his 33 and the best batting of the innings came from Damien Martyn who, as ever, was smooth and stylish, stroking six boundaries in his 76-ball unbeaten 67. He was dropped, though, on 1, a low caught and bowled chance to Jan Kloppenberg. The rest of the Australian innings was made up of a 26 from Jimmy Maher (standing in on the day as wicketkeeper and opening bat for Adam Gilchrist) and Darren Lehmann’s 29 not out.
Tim de Leede picked up both Australian wickets for 34 while the Dutch skipper Roland Lefebvre was immaculate in conceding just 19 off his eight overs.
There’s not really much to say about the Dutch innings except to not that they scored only three fewer against Australia than India managed at SuperSport Park last Saturday. Tim de Leede slogged a massive six off Lehmann during his 24 while Luke van Troost managed 23, but the moment of the innings came when Ian Harvey totally deceived a bowled Edgar Schiferli with a slower ball just after being put into the square leg stand.
Australia march on. Just as expected.