ICC World Cup 2023: Netherlands beat South Africa by 38 runs

Dharamshala, The Gulf Observer: The Netherlands put on a stunning display of tight bowling and powerful late-innings batting to beat South Africa by 38 runs in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Dharamshala on Tuesday.

Put in to bat on the variable-bounce pitch at the HPCA Stadium in the middle of the Himalayan mountains, the Dutch set the Proteas a target of 246 runs, thanks to two big partnerships at the end of their innings.

South Africa began the chase with caution and lost their first wicket for 36 runs in the eighth over when their in-form opener Quinton de Kock fell to Colin Ackermann.

It led to a flurry of wickets for the determined Dutch as they removed South Africa captain Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram in the space of 26 balls for eight runs.

Veteran spinner Roelof van der Merwe and medium pacer Paul van Meekeren took two wickets each as the Dutch stemmed the flow of runs with tight lines and sharp fielding.

Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller offered hope to the South African fans by putting on a 45-run partnership but both fell to pacer Logan van Beek.

Tail-enders Keshav Maharaj and Lungi Ngidi held on for a 41-run partnership but Bas de Leede took the final wicket to hand Netherlands yet another famous World Cup win and South Africa a shock loss.

De Leede was the highest wicket-taker for the Dutch with three from his eight overs.

Earlier, Netherlands looked set to get bowled out for a low total when they lost four wickets for 50 runs in 15 overs, but a brilliant half-century by their captain Scott Edwards and a late flourish by Van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt saw them go from 140-7 in 34 overs to finishing on 245-8 in 43 overs in the rain-shortened match.

Edwards scored 78 runs off 69 balls, hitting 10 fours and a six much to the delight of the Dutch crowd.

With the win, the Netherlands bagged their first two points of the tournament after three matches. They play a weakened Sri Lankan side in their fourth match on Saturday, October 21.

Meanwhile, South Africa remain on four points after three matches. Their next match is against Bangladesh on Tuesday, October 24.