Gibson is aware of the threat posed by the Dutch

The Dutch put up a creditable fight against England in their Group B opener in Nagpur, with Ryan ten Doeschate’s hundred helping them post a competitive total of 292 for six – which Andres Strauss’ side overhauled with eight deliveries remaining.

The West indies also opened their campaign with a defeat, by seven wickets to South Africa in Delhi on Thursday, and Gibson does not expect Holland to make it easy for his side to get back on track.

“This is the World Cup and every game is going to be tough,” he said. “A lot has been said this week and also last week about the minnows, and the ICC deciding to have 10 teams for the 2014 World Cup.

“I don’t like to call them ‘minnows’; they are a sort of lesser team, if you like. They are here to prove a point, and they did prove a point against England.”

Former England bowling coach Gibson has experience of losing to the Dutch and does not want to repeat the feeling today.

“They beat England in the World Twenty20 (at Lord’s in 2009), and I was working with England at that time, and I remember the feeling in our dressing room and jubilation in their camp,” he said.

“Those guys, when they come into an event like this, bring in a lot of energy and with an expectation of upsetting a big team.

“Our fortunes of late do not suggest that we are a big team. But we still believe that we are a big team and we are here to prove this.”

The West indies suffered a major blow on Friday when vice-captain and key all-rounder Dwayne Bravo was ruled out of the competition with a knee injury.

As well as Bravo, they have lost opening batsman Adrian Barath and wicketkeeping batsman Carlton Baugh to injury.

For Holland – arguably the pick of the associates alongside Ireland – it is a chance to prove the ICC wrong in their decision to exclude the lesser teams from the next World Cup.

Captain Peter Borren is keen for his side to continue giving a good account of themselves on the sub-continent, and believes the tightness within the squad could work in their favour.

He said: “We’re not a fully professional outfit but we have a core group of guys who live and work in Holland.

“We’ve given up a lot to be here, so as a result we are quite tight as a unit.”