The Netherlands skipper Jeroen Smits has described the team's sensational victory over hosts England in the opening match of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup as "unbelievable" and "special".

The Dutch beat England by four wickets in a match that went down to wire on Friday.

"It is unbelievable; something special. I think I can sleep well tonight. We fought back quite well. We had some luck and deserved to win. We were cautious in the start but always ahead on Duckworth-Lewis method. We did well.

"We are now looking to play in the final," Smits said after the match.

Rival skipper Paul Collingwood was also effusive in his praise of the Dutch.

"Congratulations to Holland. We did not have enough runs there. They played exceptional game. It is a major performance. We looked at 170-180, unfortunately they batted well. They were better than us today," he said.

"We had a lot of chances and run-outs but we did not do it. That's fine line between win and lose. There was bit of rain around but I don't want to put any excuse. We have a major game against Pakistan... we want to go and play well," he said.

Man of the Match Tom de Grooth, who scored a brilliant 49, was also elated.

"We played to our ability. We wanted to beat a big nation and we have done that," Grooth said.