South Africa closer to World Cup ticket through win in last ODI

On ‘Pink Day’ (to draw attention to breast cancer), the South African team wore pink clothing; the Netherlands players wore pink caps. Nidamanuru was absent due to injury – his replacement was the recovered Tom Cooper – and Viv Kingma came in for Ryan Klein.

Kingma provided the first breakthrough when Barresi caught Bavuma at short mid wicket (16/1). Shortly after, Kingma struck again when De Kock uncharacteristically chased a wider one and Tom Cooper grabbed a fine catch at slip (32/2). 43/2/10 was not the Power play score South Africa will have hoped for.

Van der Dussen's and Markram's partnership of 62 runs for the third wicket was ended when Van der Dussen (25) hit a loose ball within reach of Van Meekeren, who grabbed a fantastic catch at backward square leg. Markram was luckier; with a top edge flying for six, he completed his half century. Shortly after the 50 partnership, Heinrich Klaasen got a top edge. Keeper Edwards picked up a handsome diving catch: 145/4.

In the 29th over, Dutt was close to his second wicket when he had a rejected LBW appeal reviewed. However, 'umpire's call' meant that Klaasen was allowed to stay – a crucial moment. Klaasen survived again when O'Dowd dropped a chance in the covers.

Around 200, Aiden Markram reached his first (!) century in the ODI format with a boundary off Dutt. Then Markram opened his shoulders; as is often the case, the Dutch saw a good start evaporate. The batters went after Dutt; the 39th over yielded twenty runs and the 45th eighteen.

The proverbial bear was loose and there was now a big 350+ score on the card. With Van der Merwe, Van Beek, Pringle ánd De Leede absent, Edwards ran out of his bowling options and opted for Vikram Singh, who started well but went for eighteen runs moments later. That further limited the Dutch captain's chances of turning the tide. The batsmen showed no respect for the bowlers, with the exception of the outstanding Fred Klaassen who held his own fantastically in the onslaught with 2-43.

Still, the Orange showed fighting spirit. Cooper caught Markram (175) on the long on boundary. Van Meekeren prevented Miller's 100 with a catch off his own bowling, grabbed Magala with his third catch (in the covers) ánd yorked Nortje. South Africa finished on 370/8.

Netherlands innings

Vikram Singh (21) started convincingly with five boundaries in the first four overs before Jansen bowled him (23/1). Max O'Dowd took over with two boundaries off Jansen. After eight overs, the Netherlands had a lead of fifteen runs.

Anrich Nortje bowled a 141 km/h delivery into the rib cage of Musa Ahmad, who had to catch his breath and was hit again by the same bowler moments later. Musa showed character by then hitting two beautiful boundaries off Magala. On the other side ot the wicket O'Dowd (47) had warmed up and quietly moved towards half a century. Three runs before that, however, he played a ball from Magala onto his stumps (108/2, partnership 85).

Tabraiz Shamsi was greeted by Musa with a huge six against the scoreboard, making the DLS par score no longer perfectly readable. A few overs later, Musa hit Shamsi for six two more times (two crowd catches, by the way). Shortly after, Heinrich Klaasen caught Musa at backward point for a handsome 61 (151/3).

Barresi and Edwards kept the Netherlands in the match. The required run rate was more than ten runs per over, but the experienced pair were invariably not far away, until Barresi (29) hit the ball into the hands of Van der Dussen at deep square leg. After a dropped chance from Miller and a reverse sweep from Edwards for six (!) the end came for the Dutch skipper (LBW for 42 off 33 balls, 217/6).

The Dutch batting line-up had too little depth to even come close to the South African monster score. Shariz, Van Meekeren and Klaassen were all bowled by the outstanding Sisanda Magala (5-43). The curtain fell on 224.

South Africa must now await the result of Ireland vs Bangladesh in May. If Ireland wins all three, South Africa may still be condemned to play the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe in June - a 'fate' of which the Netherlands was already assured.

Photo credit Gallo images