Nagpur, Feb 22: England beat Netherlands in a keenly contested game to begin their 2011 ICC World Cup campaign at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium here in Jamtha, Nagpur. Set to chase a total of 292 under lights, the England batsmen, led by captain Andrew Strauss (88 off 83 balls), reached the target with six wickets and eight deliveries to spare.

Netherlands opted to bat first after winning the toss. Ryan Doeschate led the Dutch batting effort, scoring his fourth ODI century and adding 78 runs for the third wicket with Tom Cooper (47). But the Dutch innings ended on a high with a 24-ball cameo from Peter Borren that produced 35 runs and saw the team end up with a total of 292/6 in 50 overs.

England, in reply, began their chase well. Their openers Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen (39) added 105 for the opening wicket. Jonathan Trott, coming in at the fall of Pietersen’s wicket, also made a strong contribution (62 off 65 deliveries) before he was dismissed with the score at 224. Ian Bell (33) fell a few overs later with England still requiring 52 off the last 42 balls.

But Paul Collingwood (30 off 23 balls) and Ravi Bopara (30 off 20 balls) saw that tense passage of play through and England won the game by six wickets.

Brief scores:England 296/4 in 48.4 overs (Andrew Strauss 88, Jonathan Trott 62, Ryan Doeschate 2/47) beat Netherlands 292/6 in 50 overs (Ryan Doeschate 119, Tom Cooper 47, Graeme Swann 2/35) by six wickets

Man-of-the-Match: Ryan ten Doeschate for his all-round effort of 119 and 2/47