AUSTRALIA: South African batting made a mess of a 159-run chase as the batting order collapsed under pressure from the Netherland bowlers. Cautiously aggressive batting from the Netherlands batsmen helped them post a competitive 158/4 in twenty overs before the bowlers restricted South Africa to 145/8.
Netherland Innings:
South Africa won the toss and opted to bat first. Netherland’s openers, Stephan Myburgh (37 off 30 balls) and Max O’Dowd (29 off 31 balls) gave the associate side a flying start. The duo put together 58 runs in just 8.3 overs.
Boundaries came off the bats of both batsmen at regular intervals as the team scored 48 runs within the powerplay.
Aiden Markram (16/1) broke the opening partnership by dismissing Myburgh, who slog-swept the bowler to the fielder at deep mid-wicket.
O’Dowd and Tom Cooper (35 off 19 balls) hit sixes in consecutive overs as the Netherlands scored briskly. In the thirteenth over, Max O’Dowd was finally dismissed by Keshav Maharaj (27/2). The leggie lured the batsman into a poor shot, and the resulting mishit was caught at long-off by Kagiso Rabada.
Tom Cooper was initially aggressive, hitting two boundaries and two sixes. His fiery inning ended when Maharaj struck again in his next over.
Cooper attempted a big slog sweep but only managed to top-edge the ball to the wicketkeeper.
The new man in, Bas de Leede (1 off 7 balls), didn’t last long. He was castled by Anrich Nortje (10/1) off the first delivery of the eighteenth over.
Netherland’s skipper, Colin Ackermann (41* off 26 balls), hit three successive boundaries in the nineteenth over bowled by Rabada (37/0).
His two sixes in the final over, along with Scott Edwards (12 off 7 balls), pushed the Netherlands’ total to a competitive 158/4 in their quota of twenty overs.
South Africa Innings:
South Africa lost wickets early in the innings when Fred Klaassen (20/2) removed Quinton de Kock (13 off 13 balls) with a stunning delivery in the third over.
De Kock had smashed a six in the previous over. He edged an away-going delivery to the wicketkeeper in an attempt for another big hit.
Fred Klaassen built up the pressure on the batsmen with five dot balls in the fifth over, in which the batsmen scored just 2 runs.
Temba Bavuma (20 off 20 balls) was troubled by the pace and movement generated by Colin Ackermann (16/0). He ultimately was castled by Paul van Meekeren (33/1) in the last delivery of the powerplay, at the end of which South Africa was 39/2.
The big-hitting Rilee Rossouw (25 off 19 balls) hit two boundaries in the ninth over off Roelof van der Merwe (19/0), which yielded 14 runs.
Rossouw fell in the next over, holing to Max O’Dowd at deep mid-wicket off Brandon Glover (9/3).
South African wickets kept falling at regular intervals. In the thirteenth over, Aiden Markram (17 off 13 balls) went for a big hit off Klaassen and holed out to a diving Myburgh, who took the thick edge at short cover.
With the required rate nearing 10-runs per over, Heinrich Klaasen (21 off 18 balls) carted van Meekeren for a six in the fifteenth over as 13 runs came off it.
Brandon Glover struck twice in the sixteenth over. He dismissed David Miller (17 off 17 balls), caught by Roelof van der Merwe at backward square leg.
The new man in, Wayne Parnell (0 off 2 balls), nicked one behind the stumps to the keeper.
Logan van Beek (23/0) bowled an excellent seventeenth over, giving away just 3 runs to pile up the pressure on South African batsmen.
Heinrich Klaasen became the victim of the sustained pressure as the batsman mishit the delivery while going for a big hit off Bas de Leede (25/2).
Logan van Beek safely completed the catch at deep mid-wicket, triggering a massive roar from the crowd.
South Africa required 26 runs from the last over. Bas de Leede gave away just 12 runs while claiming the wicket of Keshav Maharaj (13 0ff 12 balls) to hand the Netherlands a 13-run win over South Africa.
The defeat to the Netherlands effectively knocked South Africa out of contention for progressing into the knock-out stages of the World Cup.
India qualified for the semi-finals, and the match between Pakistan and Bangladesh is now a virtual quarterfinal.
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