DHARAMSALA (India) • The Netherlands were knocked out of cricket's World Twenty20 yesterday, after their match against Oman was abandoned owing to rain in Dharamsala.
The Dutch, who shared a point with Oman in the rained-off game, had been invited to field after losing the toss but not a single ball was bowled because of bad weather.
"There's extreme disappointment. We've put in a lot of time, effort and energy in trying to qualify. For it to end like this after having lost to Bangladesh in a closely-fought game, we are gutted," Dutch skipper Peter Borren said.
"We could have done a lot of things better in that game, it will haunt us for a while. We don't get a lot of opportunities at this stage. As someone said, our next chance could be in four years' time."
Oman, who stunned Ireland in their first Group A encounter, are still in the race for the Super 10 stage. "We were confident coming into the game. We are still alive if we beat Bangladesh," a beaming Oman captain Sultan Ahmed said.
Earlier yesterday, Pakistan's interior ministry cleared the national team to travel to India for the World Twenty20 following concerns about player safety.
Pakistan had earlier said its men's and women's teams would travel to India only after New Delhi gave a public guarantee on the safety of its players.
"The interior minister has given permission to play in the Twenty20 on the basis of solid assurances received from chief minister of West Bengal and the union home secretary and the home minister (in India)," Pakistan Cricket Board executive committee chairman Najam Sethi said.
The March 19 clash between India and Pakistan has already been moved to Kolkata in West Bengal, following Pakistan's security concerns over the original venue, Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.
India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh said yesterday that Pakistan should not worry about its players' safety.
"Why only Pakistan? Whoever comes here, India provides them security. There is no reason to be worried about security here," he said.
Former champions Pakistan, who lost to India in the final of the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, begin their campaign on Wednesday in Kolkata against the qualifier from Group A.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS