The Netherlands registered a historic feat by becoming the first and only non-Test playing team to defeat South Africa in both T20Is and ODIs, with both victories occurring within the two ICC tournaments in a gap of 11 months. Netherlands defeated South Africa by 38 runs in the ODI World Cup group match, 11 months after the Dutch had knocked the Proteas out of the T20 World Cup 2022 with a stunning 13-run win on November 6, 2022, in Adelaide.
The Netherlands achieved a remarkable upset, defeating South Africa by 38 runs in a rain-affected match, marking the first loss for the Proteas in the ongoing 50-overs World Cup in Dharamsala on Tuesday. Despite suffering defeats in their two previous matches, the determined Dutch team managed to overcome an early batting collapse to reach a competitive total of 245-8 in the 43-over contest.
Scott Edwards played a crucial captain’s innings, remaining unbeaten with 78 runs to rescue the Netherlands after they were struggling at 82-5 in the 21st over. In their chase, South Africa also experienced a batting collapse, leading to their eventual dismissal for 207 runs, resulting in their first loss in the tournament. David Miller contributed a quick 43 runs, but his wicket in the 31st over extinguished South Africa’s hopes of avoiding an upset.
The turning point of this game was when Scott Edwards walked out to bat. The Netherlands were all set to finish under 200 but the skipper had other ideas and better determination than anyone. Scott Edwards and the Dutch tail wag to add around 100 runs in the final 10 overs to put up a competitive score. That just gave the momentum to the Netherlands, who then turned up with the ball. Spin to win as we saw, the Netherlands kept things slow, made the most of the pitch, and once Quinton de Kock got out, the floodgates opened. Logan van Beek was just brilliant. The others, too, did their job well.
