The Dutch captain Peter Borren won the toss and chose to bat first, as England and the Netherlands prepared to get their World Cup campaigns underway in Nagpur,
in the first meeting between the teams since England's shock defeat in the opening match of the World Twenty20 at Lord's in 2009."We're very excited to get underway, and we want to get some momentum early," said England's captain, Andrew Strauss, who confirmed that Graeme Swann was back in the side as the team's solitary specialist spinner, despite having just returned to the squad following the birth of his son, Wilfred, earlier in the week.
Ravi Bopara also plays in a packed batting line-up, which means no room for Michael Yardy, the only omission from England's warm-up match against Pakistan at Fatullah. Kevin Pietersen, who made 66 in that fixture, was confirmed as Strauss's new opening partner.
"I do see it as a fresh challenge, which is something I've needed," said Pietersen. "It excites me to play one-day cricket again. I haven't been enjoying it as much as I should be, but after a great Ashes tour, I really feel in love with cricket again."
For the Dutch, much rests on the batting potential of Alexei Kervezee, who is only 21 but has come off the back of a successful season for Worcestershire in 2010, and the allrounder Ryan ten Doeschate, whose prowess in limited-overs cricket has regularly been showcased for Essex. The veteran Bas Zuiderent, who scored a half-century against England in their first meeting in the 1996 World Cup, will shore up the middle order.
"We don't often play on this stage, so it's a learning curve, but we've got some experience," said Borren. "We've come a long way, and there's no excuse for no improvement. The pitch looks pretty good for batting, so hopefully we can score a few runs and restrict them later."
England will look initially to the seam duo of James Anderson, who claimed four quick wickets in their victory over the Netherlands in the 2003 World Cup, and the fit-again Stuart Broad, who demonstrated his hunger for the campaign with five-wicket hauls in each of England's warm-ups against Canada and Pakistan.
England 1 Kevin Pietersen, 2 Andrew Strauss (capt), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Ravi Bopara, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson.
Netherlands 1 Alexei Kervezee, 2 Wesley Barresi (wk), 3 Tom Cooper, 4 Ryan ten Doeschate, 5 Peter Borren (capt), 6 Bas Zuiderent, 7 Tom de Grooth, 8 Mudassar Bukhari, 9 Pieter Seelaar, 10 Bernard Loots, 11 Berend Westdijk.
