Openers Robin Uthappa and Shikhar Dhawan's twin tons took the game away from Holland. Then the bowlers had the minnows running for cover as India 'A' crushed the Dutch side by 202 runs in their Eurasia Series opener at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday night.
India scored 311 and then bowled Holland for a mere 109 runs to win the match with 20.4 overs to spare.
Opting to bat first, the Uthappa-Dhawan duo toyed with the Dutch bowlers to put on an opening stand of 264 runs that set the foundation for a big score.
Uthappa, who made his ODI debut against England in the final one-dayer in Kochi, was in brilliant form and played his strokes against a toothless Dutch attack to score 116 from 132 balls that included 13 hits to the fence. On the other hand, Delhi bat Shikhar Dhawan was his aggressive self, hitting 127 from 142 balls with the help of 17 boundaries.
India lost quick wickets when seamer Ernst van Giezen (3/49), the pick of the Dutch bowlers, removed Uthappa and then had S Vidyut for a duck and Dinesh Karthik (15) as well. However, Reetinder Singh Sodhi was merciless in his approach and scored a breezy unbeaten 22 from 12 balls to take the score to 311.
Chasing a victory target of 312, the Dutch side was never in the game. They had an ominous start as three of their top order batsmen were out for ducks. And, apart from Atse Buurman (53) and teenager Alexe Kerveze (26), no other batsmen could reach double digits. The side was bundled out for 109 in just 29.2 overs. Both VRV Singh and Piyush Chawla claimed three wickets each for the winners.
Robin Uthappa and Shikhar Dhawan shared the Man of the Match award.
Scorecard
India 'A':
R Uthappa c Szwarczynski b van Giezen 116
S Dhawan run out 127
S Vidyut c Buurman b van Giezen 0
D Kaarthick c Buurman b van Giezen 15
R S Sodhi not out 22
S Badrinath not out 6
Extras: (b 1, lb 3, w 18, nb 3) 25
Total: (for 4 wkts, 50 overs) 311
Fall of wickets: 1-264, 2-265, 3-269, 4-295.
Bowling: E van Giezen 10-0-49-3, Bukhari 10-0-61-0, Borren 8-0-63-0, Mohammad Kashif 10-0-64-0, Seelaar 10-0-57-0, Kervezee 2-0-15-0.
Holland 'A':
TN de Grooth lbw b RP Singh 0
MWA van Nierop c Karthik b VRV Singh 0
E Szwarczynski lbw b VRV Singh 0
A Buurman run out 53
AN Kervezee b VRV Singh 26
PW Borren c Dhavan b Sodhi 1
M Bukhari b Chawla 0
J Smits lbw b Chawla 3
PM Seelaar lbw b Chawla 5
Mohammad Kashif lbw b Jadeja 5
E van Giezen not out 0
Extras: (lb 5, w 8, nb 3) 16
Total: (all out for 29.2 overs) 109
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-3, 3-10, 4-42, 5-80, 6-80, 7-88, 8-104, 9-109
Bowling: R P Singh 6-1-30-1, VRV Singh 7-0-43-3, R S Sodhi 4-1-15-1, P Chawla 7.2-3-11-3, R Jadeja 5-3-5-1.
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