India stifles Netherlands in cricket World Cup

NEW DELHI - India's spinners strangled Netherlands' batsmen on a lifeless pitch as the World Cup co-host bowled its struggling opponents out for 189 in 46.4 overs in a Group B match on Wednesday.

Slow leftarmer Yuvraj Singh took 2-43 to pass 100 wickets in one-day internationals and legspinner Piyush Chawla claimed 2-47 as the Dutch were pegged back after a half-century opening stand between Eric Szwarczynski (28) and Wesley Barresi (26).

Captain Peter Borren hit three fours and two sixes and top scored with 38 to give the total some respectability with his late runs but Zaheer Khan mopped up the tail with 3-20.

India bowled spin for 24 consecutive overs from the sixth to tie down the batters and, having opted to bat first, Netherlands collapsed from 99-2 to 108-6 as it tried to accelerate.

Borren's 38-run partnership with Mudassar Bukhari (21) carried the Dutch to 189 as India's bowlers threatened to undo their earlier good work, before Khan came to the rescue.

Fellow seamer Ashish Nehra finished with 1-22 and bowled just five overs on his recall to India's team in place of Munaf Patel.

Szwarczynski and Barresi had initially frustrated India's bowling attack with their opening stand as Netherlands began steadily on a pitch offering no help for the seamers.

Nehra was allowed just one over in his first spell before being replaced by offspinner Yusuf Pathan.

Szwarczynski hit four boundaries in his first match at the tournament, and Barresi struck two, but the openers were out in quick succession as India's slow bowlers cut off the runs and applied the pressure.

Szwarczynski was bowled by Chawla and Barresi fell leg before to a skiddy delivery in slow leftarmer Yuvraj's first over.

The Dutch continued to crawl along and were yet to reach 100 in the 29th over when Ryan ten Doeschate's desperate attempt to lift the scoring rate failed when he holed out to a catch by Khan on the long-off boundary for Yuvraj's second wicket.

Nehra struck with his first ball on his return to the attack next over when Cooper edged behind. And with the Dutch middle order exposed, Khan also benefited in his first over back with the wicket of Bas Zuiderent, lbw for a duck.

Borren, coming in at No. 8 in a reshuffled Netherlands batting order, swung two huge sixes in a mini-fightback. He found support from Bukhari, who also hoisted two sixes into the crowd, as Netherlands finally found some boundaries at the end.