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Squad: Scott Edwards ©, Max O'Dowd, Bas de Leede, Vikramjit Singh, Teja Nidamanuru, Paul van Meekeren, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Ryan Klein, Wesley Barresi, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmad, Sybrand Engelbrecht.

It would, perhaps, be a tad hypocritical for an England fan like myself to refer to this Netherlands side - the first to grace a World Cup since 2011 - as the Southern Hemisphere Select XI, but with only a third of the squad actually born in the Low Countries (another third hailing from South Africa, while the remainder began their lives in India, New Zealand or Tonga, in the captain's case), it's nevertheless a fact that no World Cup side has ever featured so many "adopted" players before. But whatever their provenance, the men in orange swept aside the opposition in Zimbabwe this summer - including the West Indies, who finally miss their first tournament after barely scraping into the 2019 edition - to become the sole Associate minnow in amongst the Test giants.

And they do deserve the tenth berth, having tied a chase of 375 with the Windies then won the super over thanks to Logan van Beek hitting 4-6-4-6-6-4 and promptly defending that 30 with the ball, before homegrown hero Bas de Leede took five wickets and scored 123 from 92 balls against Scotland to take his country over the line, becoming only the fourth player in ODI history to achieve five-fer and a century in one game. It's De Leede and county stalwart Colin Ackermann who'll carry the top order behind openers Vikram Singh and Max O'Dowd, while wicketkeeping skipper Scott Edwards anchors the middle order. Paul van Meekeren brings pace to an attack that already features the crafty Van Beek and Ryan Klein; spin, however, is liable to be the Dutch Achilles heel, with the Oranjes relying on a pair of 20-year-olds - offy Aryan Dutt and leggy Shariz Ahmed - while recalling Roelof van der Merwe at the age of 38, following a two-year absence from one-dayers, as a left-arm orthodox option.

In the twenty World Cup games the Dutch have played to date they've managed two victories, against Namibia in 2003 and Scotland in 2007, and that kind of average should theoretically see them pick up a third at this edition, but it'll be a tough ask against such strong opposition. Sri Lanka and Afghanistan would be the likeliest candidates for an upset, but both games take place in the low-scoring, spin-friendly conditions at Lucknow that are almost certain to favour the Asian sides; the pace and power of the men in orange may be better employed at Dharamshala, where they take on South Africa in their third match. A Dutch win in that encounter would certainly be a historic slice of cricketing fratricide, but realistically, the Netherlands should look first and foremost to enjoy the experience on the big stage, relish any scare they might give a big team, and knock off a few personal bests in preparation for 2027.

Highest World Cup total: 314-4 vs Namibia (Bloemfontein, 2003)
Lowest World Cup total: 115 vs West Indies (Delhi, 2011)
Highest World Cup innings: 134*, Klaas-Jan van Noordwijk vs Namibia (Bloemfontein, 2003)
Best World Cup bowling figures: 4-35, Tim de Leede vs India (Paarl, 2003)
Leading World Cup run-scorer: Ryan ten Doeschate, 435 runs
Leading World Cup wicket-taker: Tim de Leede, 14 wickets


Tournament Schedule: Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, England, India