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It’s match number 15 of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Unbeatean South Africa will take on the yet to taste their maiden win Netherlands at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium, Dharamsala. While the Proteas would be happy with the way they have performed so far in this tournament, being the team with the highest net run rate, they will now sense an opportunity to go to the top of the points table. Their net run rate (NRR) is already the best among the ten teams so far and should they get the two points against the Dutch with a decent margin, they would be tied on points with India and New Zealand, who have played a game extra and have six points.
If such a scenario happens, the Proteas, by virtue of having the better NRR, at least till now, should climb up to the leaders spot with India dropping to second and New Zealand to the third place respectively. On the other hand, following defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand, the Men in Orange would be looking to learn from their mistakes and try and come back improved. They have had their moments in both the matches so far but just haven’t been able to sustain the periods of dominance to get the results in their favour. Meanwhile, their bowling has been the better of their departments but their batters have failed to deliver under scoreboard pressure in both matches so far.
The Proteas by contrast, have batted and bowled well and have looked one of the better teams in this tournament and would want to continue their ruthless approach. If they get going and get a hold, they won’t think twice before going for the kill rather than playing defensively from what it looks like is going to be their approach in this competition. Do the Dutch then have the quality to stop them like how they did in the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia or will the Proteas prove to be too strong a challenge for them in this format of the sport?
Join us as we take you through this fixture.
Probable Playing XIs:
Netherlands: Vikramjit Singh, Max O’Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards (captain & wicketkeeper), Sybrand Engelbrecht, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek/Ryan Klein, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (captain), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi/Gerald Coetzee
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