Battle of big-hitters as Ireland face the Dutch

Irish batsman Kevin O'Brien and Dutch counterpart Ryan ten Doeschate get their last chance to repeat their big-hitting shows when their teams clash in their final World Cup match Friday.

Both teams are out of contention for a place in the quarter-finals, with Ireland having secured just two points and the Dutch yet to open their account after five matches.

But the spotlight at Eden Gardens will be on O'Brien and ten Doeschate, who have already hammered rapidfire centuries against England.

Ireland, who go into the match as favourites after emerging the most impressive of non-Test-playing nations, owed their upset three-wicket victory over England to O'Brien.

The middle-order batsman smashed the fastest World Cup hundred off just 50 balls to help his side achieve a stiff 328-run target.

More important than the runs were the circumstances in which they came. Ireland were facing defeat at 111-5 before O'Brien turned the match upside down with a 63-ball 113, containing six sixes and 13 fours.

Ireland continued to stretch bigger teams with their gutsy performances in the next three games before losing against India, the West Indies and South Africa, but O'Brien could not regain his touch, his highest being 19.

Ten Doeschate also enjoyed his most memorable moment in one-dayers against England, cracking a 110-ball 119 with the help of three sixes and nine fours to help his side set a challenging 293-run target.

England went on to win the match by six wickets with eight balls to spare in Nagpur but ten Doeschate won the man-of-the-match award for his all-round show as he also claimed two wickets.

"It was pretty special for me. Personally, it is about as close to a perfect innings as I want to play in one-day cricket," South Africa-born ten Doeschate said.

Unlike O'Brien, the Dutchman managed to play another solid innings when he scored an unbeaten half-century against Bangladesh in the last match in Chittagong.

Ten Doeschate has so far scored 1,435 runs in 32 one-day internationals with four hundreds and nine half-centuries, while O'Brien has made 1,519 runs in 57 matches with two tons and seven half-centuries.