Replacement for captain wins game for the Dutch

BASSETERRE, St Kitts, Mar 23 (Reuters) Netherlands captain Luuk van Troost watched from the dressing room after dropping himself from the team as his replacement inspired the Dutch to victory over Scotland in their World Cup Group A match here.

Medium-pacer Billy Stelling took career best figures of three for 12 in Scotland's total of 136 all out from 34.1 overs. The Netherlands replied with 140 for two to win with 26.1 overs to spare in the last match of the tournament for both sides who had already been eliminated.

It was the Netherlands's first win over Scotland in the three one-day internationals the countries have contested and only their second success in 14 World Cup matches.

''It was a tough call, but Luuk is very honest with himself and he thought it was best for the team that he did not play,'' replacement captain Jeroen Smits told a news conference after the match yestreday.

''He was very depressed, he's still depressed, and I think I'm a bit depressed.'' Smits said Van Troost's move was prompted by poor form. He had scored just five runs in his two previous innings in the tournament and he took one for 59 in the four overs he bowled.

''It was in the air, but I didn't know about it until 10 minutes before the start of the warm-up,'' Smits said.

The fact that Van Troost may have been playing in his last match only added to the poignancy of his moment for Smits.

''I think he was planning to make this his last tournament, and it's a sad thing that he couldn't finish it off on the field,'' Smits said. ''That's Luuk, he's too straightforward, very honest.'' Scotland captain Craig Wright did not try to hide his disappointment at his team's performance.

''I'm slightly embarrassed, to be honest,'' Wright said. ''We set out to come here and show that we're a decent cricket team, which we are, but we haven't done that.'' Reuters DH VP0426