ravaged West Indies will have plenty to play for when it takes on an inspired Netherlands in a crucial World Cup league match Monday. Reeling under a seven-wicket defeat to South Africa at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium Thursday, West Indies was dealt another blow when key all-rounder Dwayne Bravo was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury. Up against Netherlands next, the former world champion must overcome the twin setbacks if it is to put back its campaign on track. “Bravo was in good form and getting injured in such a way, it's really sad,” said West Indies coach Ottis Gibson. “We can't do much with these injury situations. We have got to move on. We are still a big team. We have got history behind us. We still believe we have got much left in us and we are ready to prove that on this big stage.” West Indies was largely expected to lose to the stronger South Africa but it was the manner of its defeat that rankled its fans the most. They looked easily capable of putting up a total closer to 300 after promising knocks by Darren Bravo, Devon Smith and Dwayne Bravo but threw it away all, thanks to some reckless shots. The West Indies can hardly afford another slip-up when it takes on the Dutch in the day-night match at the same venue. The Netherlands proved its grit despite having just four professionals in the squad when it gave England a mighty scare in Nagpur. “The England game was a good experience,” said Ryan ten Doeschate. Gibson said his side will not make the mistake of taking the Netherlands lightly. Zimbabwe, Canada already looking to future Zimbabwe and Canada, whose World Cup ambitions were always modest, are already planning for the future despite having five more matches to play in this marathon event. The two teams meet in Nagpur Monday in Group A having both lost their opening games. They are already facing a virtually impossible task of reaching the quarterfinals with Pakistan, Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand widely expected to progress. Canada, which lost by 210 runs to Sri Lanka, insists it has a bright future in the sport and believe it can even achieve Test status. “Our plan is to develop the game and by 2015 or so to become a full member. Cricket is growing in Canada in a big way. Lots of South Asians are moving in there,” said Canada coach Pubudu Dassanayake. Zimbabwe is also looking ahead after years of political turmoil. After a five-year self-imposed exile from Tests, it will return to the big time in May with a tour of Bangladesh and hopes to host New Zealand and Pakistan later in the year. Zimbabwe lost its opening match in the World Cup when it slipped to a 91-run defeat to champion Australia in Ahmedabad, but it impressed with its spin bowling, which made up for their batting. Zimbabwe will again rely on spinners to keep the pressure on Canada after an eye-catching show by Ray Price, Prosper Utseya and Graeme Cremer against a strong Australian batting line-up. “I think it's going to be a game of spinners. They have got a couple of good spinners bowling early overs and if we can get through those overs and score at a consistent rate we can do well,” Canada skipper Ashish Bagai said.
