Dutch give winning South Africa a mighty scare
Published at 08 June, 2024The Netherlands has not been able to repeat its heroics of the past two encounters with South Africa. In New York it seemed hopeless after 103/9, but 14,000 spectators in New York saw South Africa work hard for the win (106/6/18.5).
Beforehand, there was much talk about the historical win of the Dutch at the T20 World Cup in 2022. However, the heroes of that time - Ackermann, Myburgh, Cooper, Glover, Van der Merwe and Fred Klaassen - were not present today.
Given the results so far in New York, it was a major toss to win. It wasn’t to be; South African captain Aiden Markram asked the Netherlands to bat.
It's not Michael Levitt's tournament yet. In the first over he got a thin edge that was hardly noticed until the review. Moments later, Marco Jansen claimed the spotlights once again with a brilliant slip catch ti get rid of Max O'Dowd. When Vikram Singh then missed a straight one from Jansen, it was 17/3.
After the Powerplay, Anrich Nortje not only ensured that Engelbrecht and De Leede could not accelerate. De Leede became the victim of Nortje's extra bounce (32/4) on the difficult New York pitch. Halfway through the innings it was 35/4.
Scott Edwards brought life to the innings with a rampshot for six. But whilst South Africa had been a bit sloppy in the previous edition, it was razor sharp this time, as evidenced by the fantastic run out with which Aiden Markram dismissed the Dutch skipper (46/5).
Nidamanuru was done for pace (46/6) as Nortje (2-19) was regularly clocked at 145 km/h. One of the few who stood up against the South African onslaught was Sybrand Engelbrecht. He gave away two difficult chances in the seventeenth over, but got away with them and made 40 runs before being caught. Logan van Beek (23) contributed to the partnership of 54 for the seventh wicket. The end came on 103/9. Marco Jansen took 2-20.
South Africa innings
The Dutch had a fantastic start when De Kock was run out on the very first ball of the innings. In the second over, Logan van Beek Hendricks cleaned with a beauty that just clipped the bail (3/2).
The Netherlands sensed that it had a chance on the fresh New York pitch and slow outfield. Markram escaped off Kingma on a bumpball, but was brilliantly caught by keeper Edwards on the legside (3/3) off the next ball.
Tristan Stubbs and Heinrich Klaasen had the task of bringing the Africans into calmer waters. That didn't work; Kingma seduced Klaasen into a pull shot and Tim Pringle took a fine catch at deep square leg (12/4).
Whilst the top order failed, Stubbs and Miller did create a partnership (65). They made sure one run per ball was enough. However, Stubbs (33) mistimed a De Leede delivery into the hands of Van Beek (77/5). De Leede also literally got Jansen on his knees with a painful ball on his hip.
South Africa needed sixteen runs of the last twelve balls. Logically, Miller (59 not out) sought the boundary early in the penultimate over - and succeeded.
The fighting spirit of the Dutch will undoubtedly make international headlines, but was just not enough for what would have been a sensational victory.
Photo credit: ICC/Getty
