India's captain, Rahul Dravid (right) and vice-captain Sachin Tendulkar during their 116-run partnership against the Netherlands at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium yesterday. - Dellmar

Tony Becca, Contributing Editor

FALMOUTH, Trelawny:

INDIA, THE 1983 champions and one of the favourites to lift the 2007 Cricket World Cup crown, flexed their muscles in the warm-up match at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium in Falmouth yesterday and in the process handed the Netherlands, one of the minnows in the Cup, a lesson in how to play the game of cricket.

In a match which, from start to finish, looked like a mismatch between seniors and juniors or masters and students, India, batting first before a handful of spectators after losingthe toss, rattled up 300 for nine off their allotted 50 overs and then stifled the Netherlands for 118 off 37.5 to win by a whopping 182 runs.

Impressive knock

Batting for India in an innings during which they smashed six sixes, stroked and blasted 23 fours, captain Rahul Dravid made an impressive 74 off 92 deliveries; their most accomplished batsman, Sachin Tendulkar, stroked 61 off 59 deliveries, and before and after those two gems, Virender Sehwag, 28, Robin Uthappa, 20, Mahendra Dhoni, 21, and Irfan Pathan, 25 not out, all played some good shots and looked in good nick.

Arriving on the scene at 64 for two in the 13th over and standing at the other end while their latest find, the dangerous Uthappa, smashed medium-pacer Ryan ten Doeschate for three successive boundaries - a hook to the backward square-leg boundary, a straight drive and a hook to the long-leg boundary, Tendulkar hinted of his greatness as he went around the compass driving, cutting and hooking with relish on a pitch off which the ball bounced a bit unevenly.

A drive to the long-on boundary off Doeschate was beautiful and so too were a straight drive for four and a hit for six over mid-wicket off pacer Billy Stelling.

The best of the little master, however, was when he started to go forward against Stelling and then went back and reeled off a delicate late cut to the third-man boundary; when he eased his left-foot forward and drove pacer Tim de Leede one bounce to the long-off boundary and when he went down on his right knee and hit left-arm spinner Mohammad Kashir over mid-wicket for another six.

Dravid also played some fine strokes, and none more so than a lovely back-foot cut off de Leede, a chip-and-drive over long-on for six off pacer Peter Borren, and a back-foot drive, also off Borren, to the long-off boundary.

However, all the Indian batsmen and all-rounders looked ready for the battles to come.

Bowling for the Netherlands, for whom the 21-year-old Mark Jonkman bowled six no-balls in a first over thatcost 17 runs, the 26-year-old Doeschate, formerly of South Africa's Western Province and now of England's Essex, bowling a good line and a good length, picked up five wickets for 57 runs off his 10 overs. The 39-year-old de Leede returned figures of one for 40 off his 10 overs, the 23-year-old Borren took two for 46 off seven, and the 33-year-old Reekers, who got the ball to bounce appreciably, picked up one for 34 off eight overs.

But for opening batsman Bas Zuiderent, who scored 32 before he drove pacer Munaf Patel to Dinesh Karthik in the covers at 64 for three, and Doeschate, who fell leg before to Anil Kumble for 31 off 39 deliveries at 100 for five, none of the Netherlands batsmen, including 17-year-old Alexei Kervezee and 26-year-old Daan Van Bunge, looked the part. Especially so against the off-spin of Harbahjan Singh, who pocketed two for 24 off eight overs, the leg spin of Kumble, who picked up two for 14 off five overs, and the left-arm spin of Yuvraj Singh, who preened himself with figures of four for 12 off 3.5 overs.

India innings

V. Sehwag b ten Doeschate