Ryan ten Doeschate will be spending a lot of time in this city over the next couple of months because of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Dutch middle-order batsman did enough against Ireland on Friday to win over the local fans.
“It would be nice to get a hundred,” the new Kolkata Knight Riders recruit had said on Thursday, looking ahead to the World Cup match and to the cash-rich T20 league that starts next month. He got one at the Knight Riders’ home venue on Friday, acknowledging the cheer from all around Eden Gardens after reaching three figures.
This was his second century of the World Cup, following the one against England. With support from captain Peter Borren and opener Wesley Barresi, Ten Doeschate propelled The Netherlands to beyond 300.
This was Eden Gardens’ first sight of Ten Doeschate, a professional cricketer who plies his trade in the domestic leagues of South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia. Although he was born in South Africa, he represents The Netherlands in international cricket because his father’s Dutch.
The few thousand fans who turned up at the ground despite this being an inconsequential match between two Associate nations would have liked what they saw of the right-hander. And once he got his eye in, Ten Doeschate proved to be a clean striker of the ball whether driving off the front foot or cutting deliveries that were just short of length.
{{/usCountry}}The few thousand fans who turned up at the ground despite this being an inconsequential match between two Associate nations would have liked what they saw of the right-hander. And once he got his eye in, Ten Doeschate proved to be a clean striker of the ball whether driving off the front foot or cutting deliveries that were just short of length.
{{/usCountry}}All this combined with his quick running between the wickets makes Ten Doeschate a good player to have in any T20 side. At Rs 66.7 lakh, he could prove to be a good cheap buy for the Knight Riders.