Twenty20 World Cup / Ryan ten doeschate / 08 June 2009 /

Amid a whirlwind of interviews and attention, the Dutch all-rounder takes a blow in the nets, spends a nail biting evening in front of the TV and gears up for a crack at Pakistan...

After saying that I wouldn't be paying too much attention to the England v Pakistan match, I confess that I was checking the score regularly.

I also admit that it was more nerve-racking following the scores than it was being out in the middle on Friday night at Lord's. Most of the Dutch squad went to The Oval but I chose to stay behind with a few of the other guys.

Once it became clear that England would clinch victory, my attention obviously turned to the margin by which they would win. The 48-run difference means that we can qualify for the Super 8s even if we fail to beat Pakistan at Lord's on Tuesday provided we put in a good performance and we can manage our net run-rate effectively.

Away from the World Cup, it's also been hard following Essex's progress in the County Championship because at present we're struggling against Middlesex at Chelmsford.

Returning to the tournament, South Africa's demolition of Scotland highlighted what can happen when an Associate team has a below-par day. But it's certainly no disgrace for Scotland as the Proteas have shown themselves to be serious contenders for the World Cup with a nicely balanced team of aggressive batters and bowlers plus two very effective spinners.

The reaction to our win over England is still creating a lot of attention. I've done more interviews in the last three days then I've done in my entire career. As it's still a novelty, the lads have been collecting the newspaper clippings as a reminder of our incredible night. There were some awesome pictures of us celebrating and the funniest written reaction was 'Netherlands beating England is like a rocking horse winning the Grand National'. Brilliant.

We've also had a lot people congratulating us and wishing us well for the remainder of the tournament.

Yesterday's training session was limited to an indoors session as the nets at Lord's were soaked through. The coach had an easy job to get the guys motivated for this session and the glow from Friday night was still clear to see on most of our faces.

However I had a far less enjoyable session as Buki (our right-arm medium-fast paceman Mudassar Bhukari) put me on the floor with a steady bouncer.

To be fair to me it was 1) indoors 2) a new ball and 3) there was white sheeting behind the bowlers arm. And to be fair to him I was advancing down the wicket. But he followed me perfectly. I've been walking around with a little egg on my head ever since.

After the euphoria of Friday night we are back to preparing to outwit another big team and ensure progression in the tournament. Friday's win has not guaranteed us progression but it certainly has given us belief and determination and everyone is raring to have a crack at Pakistan.

Until then my biggest challenge is to get rid of this Kookaburra-induced headache.

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