Australia v Netherlands

The Defending Champions Against the Underdogs
This match of the group A was between the mighty Australia and the minnows Netherlands. The Netherlands team could hardly recover from the slaughtering attack of the South African batsmen that they had to face the world champions of cricket. However the game was another match for Australia to polish their skills against a weaker opponent before they enter the bigger league.

Ponting won the toss for Australia
The coin rolled in the favor of Ricky Ponting. He aptly chose to bat first on a pitch that was a paradise for the batting. The main aim for the decision was to give some good batting practice to the top order batsmen. The decision to bat first also was taken in the wake of staying for longer duration on the field.

Swashbuckling Australian batting
The Australian batsmen justified their captain’s decision to bat first. Right from the beginning of the game the openers Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist launched their onslaught against the Dutch bowlers. They were guiding the ball to every possible direction outside the boundary line. However Hayden's stint at the crease was short lived and he had to depart after he was caught by Peter Borren on the bowling of de Leede on the individual score of 29 from 34 balls,with Australia at 72.

Few bumps in the journey
After the departure of Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist added a 43 runs. With the scoreboard reading 116 runs for 1 wicket Australia lost Adam Gilchrist on 57 runs and immediately Ricky Ponting, on a score of 23.The Australian camp received a jolt with loosing two wickets in quick succession.From 116 for 1, Australia was 116 for 3.

Back to devastating mode with Hodge
Netherlands could not capitalize on two quick wickets and gave away the advantage to the ruthless Australian batting duo Brad Hodge and Michael Clarke. They put up a partnership of 204 runs, which helped Australia to surpass the mark of 300 runs. Brad Hodge made maximum use of the condition to score the maiden century of his one-day international career. Hodge hit 8 boundaries and 7 sixes with utmost fluency to break the backbone of the Dutch bowling. He finished his innings by scoring 123 runs from just 89 balls. Michael Clarke complimented him well by putting up a staggering 93 runs from 85 balls, hitting 6 boundaries and 3 sixes. Shane Watson also came handy in the slog overs by hitting a quick 12 runs from 4 balls. Australians ended their innings with a sky-high score of 358 runs at the loss of 5 wickets.

Quick Start
Netherlands was against an uphill task of defeating the defending champions . The Dutch openers however showed spirit in the initial few overs by gathering 36 runs from the first 6 overs. Darron Reekers and Bas Zuiderent did not let the target daunt their spirit and were spiritedly sending the ball over the boundary line.

The downfall
The openers could not enjoy their stay at the wicket for long as they lost steam to encounter the mighty Australian bowling attack. First to go was Reekers caught by Clarke on the bowling of Nathan Brackenof his score of 25 runs from 19 balls. The Dutch batsmen were cooling heels in the dressing room by loosing half of the side on a total score of 46 runs. Bunge among the other batsmen showed some resistance with his breezy knock of 33 runs from 33 balls. The other player to compliment him was Peter Borren who scored 24 runs from 18 balls.

Hogg stole the show
Australian speedster Glen McGrath and Nathan Bracken led the bowling attack by rampaging the top order of the Dutch batting. But show stealer of the Australian bowling attack was the spinner Hogg. He ended up with a formidable bowling statistics of 4 wickets for 27 runs in 4.5 overs. The Dutch innings was wrapped up by the Australian bowlers on 129 runs in 26.5 overs.

Another cakewalk to victory
The Australian team won their second match in a row without any sign of contest from the opposition. The Australian won the match with a formidable margin of 229 runs. They secured their position in the second round of the world cup.

Man of the Match
The man of the match trophy was awarded to Bradley Hodge for his knock of 123 runs. His first ever century in the international level cricket was aptly awarded.