South Africa’s weak exit to Dutch glee

Netherlands vs South Africa | The Netherlands had several heroes on their team as they successfully held onto their respectable total of 158/4 by limiting the Proteas to only 145/8 in response.

Inexperienced seamer Brandon Glover (3/9) was excellent with the ball, and Roelof van der Merwe, 37, made a catch that could have been the best of the competition to get rid of the dangerous David Miller.

Bas de Leede (2/25) was given the task of bowling the last over after South Africa failed to achieve the 26 runs needed from the final six deliveries to secure victory despite his strong bowling performance.

Concerns exist over Proteas’ strategy

Netherlands vs South Africa | If South Africa believed they would easily win this semifinal game and go to the semi-finals, they were gravely mistaken. The Netherlands competed fiercely against their more highly anticipated opponent the entire time.

Anrich Nortje (1/10) and Keshav Maharaj (2/27) had superb ball control, but Colin Ackermann’s late hitting (41 from only 26 deliveries) provided the Proteas a respectable total to try and chase down.

And that total proved to be too high; no South African batter was able to score more than 25 runs in response, leading to one of the greatest upsets in T20 World Cup history for the Netherlands.

What does everything mean?

The Netherlands’ victory tightens the competition in Group 2. Pakistan and Bangladesh are now in the running for a spot in the semifinals, and the winner of their match later that day in Adelaide will move ahead of South Africa and into the top two spots.

The Netherlands’ heroics will also inspire India, since Rohit Sharma’s team will automatically advance to the last four as a result of the surprise victory.

South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, Wayne Parnell, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Lungi Ngidi are all South African players.

Netherlands:

Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren, Brandon Glover, Stephan Myburgh, Tom Cooper, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards (c, wk),