Nederlaag: Netherlands upset South Africa in 2023 World Cup game

Netherlands oozed perseverance in their match against South Africa in the Indian hilly town of Dharamsala to win by 38 runs and effect a shockwave in the ongoing World Cup.

Scott Edwards, skipper of the Oranje, scored 78 off 69 balls, hitting 10 fours and a six to take the Dutch to 245/8 in 43 overs, the maximum number of overs a team could play in the rain-affected match.  

Roloef van der Merwe, who played 13 ODIs and 13 T20Is for South Africa in the 2009-10 period and was playing just his sixth ODI for Netherlands, was the man who turned the tables on his former team, picking two for 34 in his nine overs.

He had earlier hit 29 off 19 balls with three fours and a six, sharing a 64-run eighth-wicket partnership with Edwards.

Things hadn’t looked good for the Dutch after they were reduced to 82/5 when Edwards walked into bat in the 21st over. They were soon reduced to 112/6 and then to 140/7.  

“For the last two matches, too many middle-order batsmen have been losing their wickets [cheaply], so we decided to take it deep and the other [lower-order] batters chipped in,” said Edwards after winning the man-of-the-match award. He also took three catches.

While Van der Merwe (in pic) made 29, Aryan Dutt chipped in with a quick-fire 23 off nine balls, hitting three sixes.

The South Africans started well, making 36 in eight overs. But then they lost Quinton de Kock, skipper Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen in quick succession and were reduced to 44/4 in the 12th over.

Two of these wickets – of Bavuma and Van der Dussen – were picked by Van der Merwe.

The task was uphill after that and although a 45-run partnership between Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller (43) ensued, wickets kept falling.

Once Miller was the seventh man dismissed on the last ball of the 31st over, the writing was on the wall.

The Proteas folded for 207, all out in 42.5 overs, just one ball before the end of the innings.

Netherlands had beaten South Africa in the T20 World Cup last year too. It was enough to throw the Proteas out of the tournament.

This was the second major upset of this World Cup, after Afghanistan’s win over England the other day.

“When we came into the tournament, we wanted to have a chance to play the semi-finals,” said Edwards.  

Brief scores: Netherlands 245/8 in 43 overs (Scott Edwards 78 not out) beat South Africa 207 all out in 42.5 overs (David Miller 43, Keshav Maharaj 40, Logan van Beek 3/60, Roelof van der Merwe 2/34, Paul van Meekeren 2/40, Bas de Leede 2/36) by 38 runs

Cricket, World Cup, Netherlands, South Africa, Roelof van der Merwe, Scott Edwards