At 13:30 GMT, 8:30 a.m. ET, the Netherlands will take on a familiar foe in Group B of the World T20 at Sylhet, Bangladesh when they stare down the United Arab Emirates in a cricket match that can be live streamed free here.
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Group B is loaded with contenders to reach the Super 10, which may not bode well for Emirates in the sweltering, 90-degree Bangladesh heat. While most of the other squads are made up of world-class pro cricket players, the U.A.E. are fielding a team of amateurs, only three of whom actually hail from the Emirates.
U.A.E. is captained by a borderline elderly Khurram Khan, 42, who doubles as an airline flight attendant. His leadership is very important to the U.A.E., but spinner Shadeep Silva is equally important to the squad should the bats fall silent.
The Netherlands has the name, but recently hasn't shown the game. They did not qualify for the 2015 50-over World Cup, and dropped two games to Hong Kong, and one to Afghanistan in their preparation for the World T20. They have a talented group of batsmen led by Peter Borren and Wesley Barresi, but the entire order has developed a reputation for up-and-down performance.
Luckily for them, their bowling has shown improvement, led by Ahsan Malik. He starred at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier by taking an astonishing 21 wickets with an econmy rate of 5.67. U.A.E. took care of business the last time these clubs met, winning a narrow one by 10 runs.
STARTING SQUADS:
Netherlands
Peter Borren (captain), Wesley Barresi, Logan van Beek, Mudassar Bukhari, Ben Cooper, Tim Gruijters, Timm van der Gugten, Tom Heggelman, Vivian Kingma, Ahsan Malik, Stephan Myburgh, Michael Rippon, Pieter Seelaar, Michael Swart, Eric Szwarczynski
United Arab Emirates
Khurram Khan (captain), Ahmed Raza, Amjad Ali, Amjad Javed, Asadullah Shareef, Faizan Asif, Kamran Shahzad, Manjula Guruge, Moaaz Qazi, Rohan Mustafa, Swapnil Patil, Rohit Singh, Shadeep Silva, Shaiman Anwar, Vikrant Shetty
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