Twenty20 / Editor / 16 March 2007 /

On the limited evidence to hand so far it is going to be very tough for the second division teams in world cricket to compete with the likes of Australia, Sri Lanka and England during what, for most, will be a brief exposure to the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.

Sunday sees two matches which could be among the most one-sided of the tournament - Australia versus the Netherlands and England's clash with Canada in St. Lucia.

Australia gave their supporters plenty to shout about when they opened their hat-trick bid with a 203-run demolition of a totally out-classed Scotland side in St Kitts.

Although they could have been forgiven for playing in first gear, the Baggy Greens showed no signs of the trouble they had at the end of their own summer, when defeats by England and New Zealand had some people questioning their position as tournament favourites and saw them lose the World No 1 spot in the one-day rankings to South Africa.

But there was no complacency against the Scots as all their stars turned up to play in a professional manner. They will be expected to do so again on Sunday when their options could be further boosted by the return of exciting all-rounder Andrew Symonds after mor than a month out with a bicep injury.

Symonds' addition to a middle order that already includes Michael Hussey, Brad Hodge and Shane Watson will bring the Aussies just about back to full-strength (only Brett Lee is missing now) and the toughest decision for them may be picking someone to leave out of the side - Hodge seems most likely.

Captain Ricky Ponting certainly showed his run of below-average form to be over as he bludgeoned 113 off an over-matched attack, hitting nine fours and five huge sixes in his 93-ball knock; one which has seen him consolidate himself at the head of the tournament leading run scorer market at 4.1.

Ponting will obviously be among the favourites in the Australian leading scorer for this match as well, although he and the opening pairing of Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden have a big advantage in these games with 'minnows' whose bowling attacks are unlikely to be bagging too many early wickets.

Both openers scored well in the Scotland game (Gilchrist 46, Hayden 60) and now they are in a bit of form after absences from the side, they should be feared, along with the pugnacious Brad Hogg, who seems to have established himself as their main spin option in the one-day game and cracked 40 off only 15 balls late in the innings against the Scots.

The Dutch would appear to have an even tougher task as they were unable to match the Scots in the recent World Cricket League, from which they and Kenya made it through to the World Twenty20 Championship, which will be played for the first time later this year.

Their star player is Essex all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate, who will be a likely favourite in any Netherlands batting market, and could be interesting in the bowling market as well as he is a more than handy medium-pacer with a good amount of experience in English county cricket.

The Dutch will not have seen a bowler with the raw pace of Shaun Tait, who grabbed two wickets against Scotland, or the accuracy of Glenn McGrath, who proved he can still cut it at the top level in limited-over cricket, claiming 3-14 in his six overs. Tait could provide some value in the top Australian bowler market if he again opens the bowling - a quick three wicket burst at the top of the order would not be the biggest surprise.

McGrath failed to take a wicket in his only outing against the Dutch, which came in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, and ended in a 75-run Duckworth-Lewis victory - all 10 wickets the Aussies took came from players no longer in their side, and only Hayden of the current batsmen got a knock (33).

But the Netherlands showed how outclassed they were back then as Tim de Leede top scored with a paltry 24 as they were bowled out for 122 - expect more of the same on Sunday despite a slight improvement in the depth of their squad.

Sunday's other game sees England make a quick reappearance from their Friday game with New Zealand that is likely to decide the Group C winners.

An England defeat would make it more likely that they would go on the offensive in their second game, and make top scoring options Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff look like more tasty options, if they even get a chance to bat.

But Canada look unlikely to be able to compete with England, after they crashed to a seven-wicket defeat to Kenya in their opening match on Wednesday, with their powder-puff attack looking ripe for one of the bigger sides to tee-off against and maybe compile a huge total.

Although Kenya are the class of the second division nations, and have the most experience, they managed to overhaul Canada's target of 200 for victory with more than six overs to spare and without looking in any trouble against an attack that includes the 41-year-old Anderson Cummins, playing in his second World Cup after previously featuring for the West Indies.

But Cummins apart, there was little to worry the watching Duncan Fletcher and Michael Vaughan, and it could be the skipper and fellow opener Ed Joyce who will be licking their lips at the chance to build a big innings.

For the Canadians, opener Geoff Barnett and Aussie export John Davison look to be their classiest batting options, but much of this game could depend on who gets the chance to bat first - if it is England, the handicap markets could be of some interest and if Canada bat, then England's top order batsmen make sensible plays in the England batting markets, especially if you feel the Canada attack will be unlikely to make many inroads.

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