In the span of three days, another upset was achieved by the Scott Edwards-led Netherlands team as they defeated South Africa on Tuesday in the 15th match of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at Dharamsala. They won by 38 runs in the 43-over-per-side game. Netherlands Captain Scott Edwards set the pace of the game first with his match-winning knock and, in the second innings, with his bowling changes.
Solid Batting by Netherlands in the Last 60 Balls
The match was shortened due to rain, and both teams were allotted 43 overs each. Proteas won the toss and invited Netherlands to bat first. South African pacers dominated the Dutch batting in the first 20 overs, dismissing five batsmen. Kagiso Rabada got Vikramjit Singh and Bas de Leede, and Marco Jansen dismissed Max ODowd. Gerald Coetzee and Lungi Ngidi picked off Colin Ackermann and Sybrand Engelbrecht.
Netherlands’ Captain Edwards came to bat at No. 7 and scored a match-winning 78 runs off 69 balls, with the help of 10 fours and one six. Late fireworks by Roelof van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt guided Netherlands to a winning total. Van der Merwe accumulated 29 off 19 balls, whereas Aryan smashed 23 runs off 9 balls with the help of three sixes.
Jansen was the best among the bowlers from the South African side, ending with figures of 8-1-27-2. Netherlands scored 105 runs after the fall of the seventh wicket, which is the second most by them in an ODI and the most against a Full Member Nation.
Proteas Crumbled Against the Minnows Netherlands
Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock started well, but Ackerman got rid of De Kock, and in the next to next over, the left-arm orthodox Van der Merwe dismissed Proteas’ Captain Temba Bavuma. Aiden Markram and Rassie Van der Dussen, in consecutive overs just after the first powerplay, lost their wickets to Paul van Meekeren and Van der Merwe, respectively. Heinrich Klaasen showed some resistance but was cleaned up by Logan van Beek. Half of the Proteas’ side was dismissed by the Netherlands with just 89 runs on the board in 18.5 overs.
The last hope for South Africa was David Miller, but he was bowled out at a score of 43 by Van Beek. As soon as Miller fell, it was clear that history was being made by the energetic Netherlands team. The formalities were completed by Bas de Leede and Van Beek, who dismissed the last two batsmen, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj.
Netherlands shocked South Africa with an upset, and the remaining matches of the tournament became more exciting. Logan van Beek ended with figures of 8.5-0-60-3, whereas Van der Merwe provided good support with figures of 9-0-34-2. This marks the first instance of Netherlands beating a Full Member nation other than Zimbabwe and Ireland in ODIs. Furthermore, this is the first instance of South Africa losing an ODI against an Associate nation. This was only the third win for the Netherlands in ODI World Cups, with the first two coming in 2003 against Namibia and in 2007 against Scotland.
Upcoming Matches for Both Teams
Netherlands will next face Sri Lanka on 21st October in a day match at Lucknow, followed by a match against Australia on 25th October in Delhi. On the other hand, the Proteas will clash against the defending champions, England, on 21st October at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, followed by a game against Bangladesh on 24th October at the same venue in Mumbai.