CWC 2023, Netherlands vs South Africa: Dutch stuns South Africa, win by 38 runs

The Dutch-registered their first-ever victory in the World Cup over a test-playing nation. They have defeated Proteas for the second time in an ICC tournament, the last time they defeated them was in last year’s T20 WC eliminating them from the race of semis.

Talking about the game, the Dutch were put into the challenging conditions to bat as the half of the side was back to the pavilion for 82 runs. It was a 43 overs contest as the match was affected by the early showers.

At one point Netherlands were in full trouble as they found themselves reeling at 140 for seven before their captain Scott Edwards played an exceptional unbeaten knock of 78 off 69 balls to take his side to a fighting total of 245 for eight. Van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt well supported him as both played an exceptional cameo in the end.

Chasing the target of 245, the Proteas started well with some cracking shots at the start, but Colin Ackerman provided the first breakthrough to the Dutch as he dismissed in-form batter Quinton de Kock. Later Skipper Temba Bavuma was cleaned up by Van der Merwe. In his very next over of his spell he dismissed van der Dussen.

The Dutch Pacer man with a beautiful delivery dismissed Aiden Markram and South Africa found themselves in trouble as all the top order batters were into the pavilion. Heinrich Klassen and David Miller tried to steady the innings, but Logan Van Beek dismissed both batters, increasing the chances of the Netherlands winning the game.

Keshav Maharaj tried well to chase the score but the lack of support from the other end resulted in South Africa being bowled out for just 207 and the Dutch winning the game by 38 runs. Logan van Beek was the standout performer with three wickets. Van Meekeren, van der Merwe and de Leede scalped two wickets each.

Before this victory Netherlands had only beaten associate nations like Scotland and Namibia in their World Cup history, since their debut in 1996. This is their first victory against a Test-playing nation and they will cherish this moment for life.

All the 10 teams are unpredictable in this tournament a lower-ranking side can also beat a higher-ranking side. This is the beauty of the sport where no one is the underdog, or no one is strong side. The team which plays good cricket will win and Afghanistan and Netherlands did the same.