T20 World Cup: Netherlands coach believes Pakistan is a 'beatable team'

PERTH: Netherlands head coach Ryan Cook has said that Pakistan is a beatable team adding that playing close games against Pakistan earlier in the one-day internationals (ODI) super league has given his side confidence against Pakistanis.

Pakistan will take on the Netherlands on Sunday at Perth Stadium in a must-win match as they’ve lost both their games against India and Zimbabwe.

The Netherlands coach said ahead of the game that his side is confident of a good show against Pakistan.

“I think every team wants to win the game that they play. But we've obviously seen that Pakistan team is beatable, so that's good to know,” he said when asked if he would be hoping to repeat what Zimbabwe did.

“Obviously, playing them in the World Super League not so long ago in the Netherlands has given us a lot of confidence because we came quite close in those matches. Hoping to get over the line this time. It would be great,” he added.

The coach said that Netherlands bowling attack is “firing well” and hoped to take some quick wickets against Pakistan on Sunday.

“Our bowling attack is firing well, and hopefully we can keep taking more wickets to give ourselves a bit more time at the back end to be able to make some inroads into the Pakistan batting order,” he said.

Replying to a question, Cook said that playing earlier against Pakistan has allowed his side to understand their position against Pakistan and they know what Pakistanis would be throwing at them in the match tomorrow.

“Pakistan bowlers have a lot of paces, and we've faced them before, so we're more familiar with what they have to throw at us,” he said.

“They do have a very well-varied attack, so we'll be having to put our plans in place for them. Obviously, all the different batters are coming up with their individual plans against them and practicing those in the nets, so we'll be able to bring them out tomorrow in the match,” the Netherlands’ coach added.

Cook expressed confidence that his team can overcome Pakistan saying he is confident and positive that if the Netherlands does things well, then it can overcome Pakistan.

“I suppose both teams start on zero points tomorrow, and both teams are even in that regard,” he said.

“It's not up to us how they play, but we can control how we play, and I think that's really the most important part that we follow those processes and make sure that we tick those boxes for ourselves,” Cook concluded.