Netherlands vs South Africa match report snippet:
On a bright and sunny morning, it was a determined effort by the Netherlands players from the beginning. The openers took a bit of time to settle in against Kagiso Rabada, Wayne Parnell and then the seasoned Myburgh took on the speedsters with a string of boundaries in the first six overs of PowerPlay. And as the Dutch openers took charge of the game, offie Aiden Markram broke the 58-run opening stand with the wicket of the left-handed Myburgh as he tried to slog sweep, but ended up being caught at deep mid-wicket.
O’Dowd and Tom Cooper, who scored 35, rebuilt the innings. The latter then sent Keshav Maharaj over deep backward point for a six, but the left-arm spinner claimed the wicket of O’Dowd two balls later. He also dismissed Cooper a little later after the batter top-edged a ball to offer a catch to Quinton de Kock.
Just when it looked South Africa was slowly returning into the game, a whirlwind innings by Colin Ackermann (41 n.o., 26b, 3x4, 2x6) steered the Netherlands to a competitive total. He slammed three fours and two sixes and added 31 runs with skipper Scott Edwards to help the team amass 31 runs from the final two overs, which eventually proved fatal for South Africa.
This was Netherlands first win against South Africa across all formats. While the Bangladesh and Pakistan fans celebrated The Netherlands’ victory as it helped both the teams stay alive for a spot in the semifinals, this defeat by South Africa also assured India of a spot in the semifinals.
The last time Netherlands faced South Africa in a T20I fixture, back in 2014, it came tantalisingly close to winning the game. After restricting South Africa to 145-9, the Dutch team fell short by just six runs in a World T20 outing in Chittagong on that March evening. But eight-and-a-half years later, when the two teams met again, the Dutch took their sweet revenge.
Read the full report here
Interview: Shayan Acharya Edit: Santhosh Kumar
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