Comical England rescued by Strauss

CAPTAIN Andrew Strauss kept his cool to help England scrape an opening World Cup win over the Netherlands after enduring a “shemozzle” of a performance in the field.

Strauss resisted the temptation to vent his frustration as England verged on the shambolic yesterday with a series of mis-fields, dropped catches and comical mis-communications to allow the Netherlands to pile up 292 for six.

Ryan ten Doeschate took advantage with a career-best 119, before England responded to a largely self-inflicted mini-crisis with a well-drilled run chase, sealing victory with six wickets and eight balls to spare.