Netherlands out to repeat South Africa shock to spark World Cup campaign
Tuesday 17 October, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Dharamsala
After overcoming Sri Lanka and Australia challenges with ease, Temba Bavuma’s South Africa will look to ensure that their unbeaten run in the tournament continues against the Netherlands.
It Takes One Day: Episode 15: Netherlands hope to repeat their T20 World Cup heroics as they meet South Africa at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023
The Proteas batters have got plenty of runs, while their bowlers have been picking up wickets with ease.
Even though all seems to be going well for the side, they’ll know the value of points in long-drawn tournaments such as these.
A close loss to Netherlands in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 saw the Proteas lose out on a semi-final spot.
Match preview of South African and Netherlands meeting at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, after the Dutch shocked their highly-fancied rivals at last year's T20 World Cup
While Bavuma’s side will look to make amends on that front, Netherlands will be keen to lift their game after losing their first two matches in India.
The Dutch are a much better side than the results show, and will be keen to prove that in Dharamsala. They'd love to take some inspiration from Afghanistan, who managed to upend higher-ranked England in their Cricket World Cup clash on Sunday.
Dharamsala is a new venue for both these sides, and they’ll look at the past results for clues. While spinners came into play in the Afghanistan-Bangladesh game, England made the most of a decent batting strip in the second contest.
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**Netherlands:**Scott Edwards (c), Max O'Dowd, Bas de Leede, Vikram Singh, Teja Nidamanuru, Paul van Meekeren, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Ryan Klein, Wesley Barresi, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmad, Sybrand Engelbrecht.
**South Africa:**Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.
Edwards has been an inspirational figure for the Netherlands in recent times. And they need him to be at his very best, both on the field as a leader and as a middle-order batter, to help them lift their game.
Scott Edwards has made his own way to now be Netherlands skipper at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023
Edwards is no stranger to performing on big occasions, with three of his four half-centuries during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 coming against Test-playing nations.
Having managed only 30 runs in the tournament so far, Edwards will look to start anew against familiar opponents South Africa. He can take inspiration from his 42 from 33 against the Proteas during a bilateral ODI engagement earlier this year.
Pacers have had their fair share of success during the Cricket World Cup in India, and Kagiso Rabada has been the pick of South Africa fast bowlers. Anrich Nortje’s absence from the tournament has seemingly spurred the 28-year-old to greater heights.
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His five wickets have come at 16.6, but more importantly he has picked up important scalps at key moments. He accounted for the dangerous Kusal Mendis in Delhi, while he got Steve Smith lbw before the batter could get going.
South Africa will hope a number of crucial breakthroughs come from their ace pacer.