Can the Orange give fight to England in Nagpur

Netherlands will be looking for some Orange inspiration against England in Nagpur in their opening ICC Cricket World Cup match.

If a city could inspire any team to come up with a good performance, it will be Nagpur for Netherlands.

Known as the city of oranges, Nagpur is the perfect venue for the Dutch to create an upset over England. There is history is this fixture, given that the minnows stunned hosts England in the Twenty20 World Cup opener at Lord's.

Dutch coach Peter Drinnen though is more realistic about of the game at hand.

"We lack the knowledge of batting in the 50-over format. We need special attention to that. Though I have no doubt that the confidence of 6 surviving members of that famous win at Lord's will surely rub on to the team," said Drinnen.

While they are still minnows, this is the Netherlands' fourth appearance in the ICC Cricket World Cup, and the Peter Borren-led side will be looking to draw on the experience of their predecessors.

"We have got a good top-order. Our bowling attack is not youthful in age and probably is an inexperienced attack, but they know that their limitations and that's good," said Drinnen.

Netherlands, who finished third in the 2011 World Cup qualifiers, made their first appearance in international cricket in the 1996 edition where they failed to notch up a single win.

Things improved slightly in the next two editions and the Dutch won one game each in South Africa and the West Indies.

Overall, they have won 18 out of 45 ODIs, but are yet to beat a Test-playing nation.

The prelude to the 2011 ICC CWC has been chequered.

Powered by all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate's unbeaten 98 off 92 deliveries, Netherlands edged past Kenya by 2 wickets in their third warm-up match. However, they got comprehensively beaten by Sri Lanka and Canada in their other 2 warm-up ties.

The Dutch will be able to call on first-hand knowledge of their opponents (England) as Ryan ten Doeschate (Essex) and batsman Alexei Kervezee (Worcestershire) are both currently playing county cricket.

Drinnen does not have any false expectations but believes that the team is shaping up well.

"We only lack in exposure and gradually our players are getting that. We are sure to give a tough fight in international cricket in the coming months," Drinnen added.

England may have won all the 2 ODIs against Netherlands, but come Tuesday and VCA, Jamtha could witness the first upset of the showpiece event. Wouldn't that spice things up nicely?