Dharamsala October 17 2023: The Netherlands have caused one of the biggest upsets in the history of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup with an emphatic 38-run triumph over South Africa in Dharamsala on Tuesday.
Inspirational skipper Scott Edwards led from the front with an unbeaten 78* as the Netherlands posted a decent total of 245/8 in a match reduced to 43 overs per side because of early rain and a determined bowling outfit saw the previously unbeaten Proteas fall well short in reply.
Edwards combined well with veteran all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe (29) and No.10 Aryan Dutt (23 off nine balls) to propel the Dutch late in their innings and South Africa's reply never gathered much momentum as their high-profile top-order was ripped apart by some quality bowling.
Colin Ackermann (1/16) got the ball rolling with the key wicket of Quinton de Kock (20) and the likes of Logan van Beek (3/60), Paul van Meekeren (2/40), Bas de Leede (2/36) and van der Merwe (2/34) all chimed in at various times as South Africa were defeated by a non-Test playing nation for the first time in an ODI.
It continues the Netherlands recent domination of South Africa, after they also tasted success against the Proteas in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia last year.
The loss robs South Africa of the chance to leapfrog unbeaten sides India and New Zealand at the top of the World Cup standings, with Temba Bavuma's side remaining in third following their first defeat at the tournament.
The Netherlands register their first win of the World Cup and overtake Sri Lanka to move up to ninth.
Earlier, South Africa stifled the Netherlands innings with regular breakthroughs. A brisk 31-run stand between Sybrand Engelbrecht and Teja Nidamanuru stabilised the Dutch innings after they were 50/4 at one stage.
The start of play in the South Africa-Netherlands contest was marred by rain. The sides finally walked out on the field just prior to 4pm IST. The game was reduced to a 43-over affair. Three bowlers were allowed to bowl nine overs, while two could bowl eight each.
South Africa had lost two crucial wickets by the end of the first Powerplay. Quinton de Kock (20) was caught behind while trying to paddle sweep Colin Ackermann, while Temba Bavuma was cleaned up by the very first ball from Roelof van der Merwe.
Paul van Meekeren made sure that the pace department opened its account in the very next over, when he castled Aiden Markram.
Van der Merwe struck once more when Rassie van der Dussen (4) went for an ambitious reverse sweep and ended up finding point.
A 45-run stand for the fifth wicket between David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen helped stabilize the South Africa innings. However, Klaasen's dismissal in the 19th over to Logan van Beek, changed the complexion of the chase once more. The Dutch had another breakthrough in the form of Marco Jansen, who was cleaned up by van Meekeren in the 25th over.
Some streaky shots from Gerald Coetzee upped the South Africa scoring rate. However, the fall of Miller (43) and Coetzee (22) in 31st and 34th overs respectively, brought the game firmly within Netherlands grasp.
Earlier in the evening, South Africa lost Sybrand Engelbrecht soon after the 20 over mark. Teja Nidamanuru (20) and Logan van Beek (10) stuck around with skipper Scott Edwards but the Dutch rate didn't really pick up till Roelof van der Merwe arrived at the crease.
Van der Merwe took on his former side, and dispatched the bowlers across the ground. Together with Edwards, he added 64 runs for the eighth wicket. The all-rounder finally fell in the 40th over to Lungi Ngidi.
Edwards came good against a capable South Africa attack and scored a brilliant fifty. His unbeaten knock included 10 fours and a six.
South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma won the toss and elected to bowl first. He believed that the overcast conditions might help the bowlers up front.
And he was proved right by Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen who provided early breakthroughs in the form of Vikramjit Singh (2) and Max O'Dowd (18). While Rabada induced a top edge off Vikramjit's bat which was taken by slip fielder Heinrich Klassen running back, O' Dowd was caught behind.
Not soon after the 10 over mark, Rabada got Bas de Leede (2) trapped lbw with one that swerved in sharply. Gerald Coetzee was the next to strike for the Proteas, as he got Colin Ackermann to play on in the 16th over.
Coetzee came in for Tabraiz Shamsi for South Africa. For Netherlands, a now-fit Logan van Beek was in the playing XI in place of Ryan Klein.
While the Proteas have a perfect all-round record against the Netherlands in the ODI format, they'll know from past experience that the Dutch cannot be taken lightly.
Netherlands beat them by 13 runs in last year's ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia. This finished the South Africa campaign in the tournament.
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