By easily defeating Netherlands, South Africa picked up ten significant points on the World Cup Super League standings. After the victory, South Africa equals the number of points West Indies, who are now in ninth place and have played all of their matches, have and moves closer to securing automatic qualification for the 2023 50-over World Cup.
South Africa must defeat the Netherlands once more on Sunday and hope that Ireland loses to Bangladesh at least once in May in order to qualify without competing in the qualification event in Zimbabwe in June. The first of those is plausible based on the evidence of this match.
As the hosts bowled an inexperienced Netherlands lineup out for under 200 and chased it down in 30 overs, the Adelaide anomaly—in which the Dutch overcame South Africa and denied them a spot in the semi-final—appeared long-gone. After Sisanda Magala and Tabraiz Shamsi each took three wickets in conditions that offered both swing and turn, Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram struck half-centuries and joined an unbroken third-wicket stand of 102 to lead South Africa to a straightforward victory.
Early in the chase, South Africa lost Quinton de Kock as he top-edged a sweep off of Aryan Dutt and was subsequently caught at backward square leg. It didn’t take long for Netherlands to sustain the greater loss. After colliding with Musa Ahmed in the deep, Dutt bowled one more over before being forced off the field with what appeared to be a knee injury. Dutt was spotted on the sidelines hesitantly checking out his ability to put weight on his right leg but did not return to the field.
With a second-wicket stand of 70, Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen set South Africa on the right path. Van der Dussen was aggressive right away and scored four points by driving the fourth ball he encountered through the covers. On the back foot, he was just as assured, as he hit his next two boundaries while remaining in his crease before hitting three straight fours against Shariz Ahmad, all with the pull stroke. As Van van Dussen top-edged a bouncer from Fred Klaasen to Musa at midwicket, he was defeated despite outscoring Bavuma and was sprinting towards the finish line.
In place of van der Dussen, Markram was partnered with Bavuma, who brought up fifty with a loft over mid-off when it was raining. Both batters continued even though South Africa was far ahead of the DLS requirements. Bavuma nearly reached his third ODI century after scoring 40 runs off the next 24 balls he faced. Instead, it was Markram who needed just 37 balls to reach his sixth ODI fifty. In order to secure a significant victory, Bavuma scored the winning runs on the final ball of the 30th over.
As their attack mainly kept Holland quiet even as they recorded their second-highest ODI score against South Africa, the home batters would have been confident in the task they were given. No other Dutch batter made more than 18 runs, and they faltered after a strong start, with the exception of forty-plus scores by Vikramjit Singh and Teja Nidamanuru.
Vikramjit led a 58-run opening stand between Max O’Dowd and him. The finishing blow came when he blasted Kagiso Rabada for two sixes in his fourth over after taking on every bowler he faced. O’Dowd walked when he attempted to steer Magala to deep third but instead edged to de Kock due to his lack of initiative, particularly in the face of a blistering opening spell from Marco Jansen. Before mistiming a chip over mid-off to Bavuma and being removed five runs short of a half-century, Vikramjit hit one more six. Three overs later, Wesley Barresi took out Rabada at fine leg while attempting to flick Anrich Nortje over, and the Netherlands lost their third wicket.
It was left to skipper Scott Edwards and Musa to stabilize the situation when they were 81 for 3 in the 18th over, but Edwards was drawn into a drive off Nortje and edged to Jansen at slip. In 26 overs, Musa nicked Tabraiz Shamsi off, leaving Netherlands at 105 for 5.
When Nidamanuru blasted a Jansen half-volley over backward square leg for six and then slipped over to smack him over square leg, he brought the fight to South Africa. He and Dutt shared a 30-run stand that was in danger until Dutt misplayed a Shamsi delivery to Rabada at deep midwicket. When Nidamanuru feathered an edge off Magala and South Africa was into the Dutch tail, he fell for 48. They would have recognized their score was unlikely to be sufficient after losing their final six wickets for a combined 84 runs.
