Just one of those days, says ton-up ten Doeschate

Ryan ten Doeschate said it had been "one of those days" after lashing 119 runs against England in a brave but failed bid to get the Netherlands' World Cup campaign off to a winning start on Tuesday.

The Dutch came into the match in Nagpur as underdogs but with confidence after a win against England at the 2009 World Twenty20.

South African-born ten Doeschate, who owns the highest ODI average in international cricket, took the ragged England attack apart, striking nine fours and three sixes in a devastating show of power.

But it was not quite enough as England squeaked home with just eight balls to spare to win by six wickets.

"For the past six weeks I've struggled with the bat but I've worked really hard in the last two weeks and it was just one of those days," said the batsman who helped his team to an impressive 292-6.

"It is a really good deck and I picked up the ball pretty early and it was one of those days when everything came naturally."

Man of the match ten Doeschate said the team had done well to score quickly in the last 10 overs to build on their solid start, adding: "If we bowl well we'll have a chance of winning the game."

The Essex all-rounder, snapped up by Indian Premier League side Kolkata Knight Riders, for $150,000, had scored 1,234 runs at a formidable average of 68.55 coming into the England match.

Speaking after the match, ten Doeschate said: "I always thought it was a really good wicket and I thought 230/240 definitely wouldn't be competitive so we knew we needed to push it on but I think as a unit we paced the innings quite well. We were aiming around the 270 mark."

The 30-year-old said said the performance was a credit to the Dutch.

"If we can carry on in that manner, playing brave cricket and having a go at these big teams it will be a great World Cup for us."

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