South Africa vs Netherlands, 40th Match, Super 12 Group 2
Starts at 05:30 IST, Nov 06 (00:00 GMT)
Previews: 😍
What chance do the Netherlands have of beating South Africa at Adelaide Oval on Sunday? The odds are certainly stacked against them. Of the 38 matches played at the men's T20 WC before Saturday, six were won by the team who - as cricketing convention would have it - had no business winning those games. Admittedly it's a big picture, broad brushstrokes approach, but the logic of South Africa being favourites is sound.
Namibia struck the first blow in the tournament's opening match by beating Sri Lanka. Then Scotland downed West Indies, who also crashed to Ireland. The fighting Irish did it again against England. Zimbabwe found themselves on both sides of the equation. First they beat Pakistan, then they were beaten by the Netherlands.
Of all those matches, the gap between the Zimbos and the Dutch was probably the smallest. And tiny compared to the chasm that looms going into Sunday's game. But the fact that the Netherlands have prevailed over even a marginally bigger side should put the South Africans on high alert.
Of course, South Africa retain a high chance of winning on Sunday. Above and beyond the numbing numbers, anything less than a resounding victory would be considered a failure. But only defeat would damage South Africa's currently solid chance of reaching the semi-finals. As they have the highest net runrate in Group 2, even a washout - which is unlikely given the forecast - should seal their spot regardless of who else does what in Sunday's tripleheader.
The wider importance to the South Africans of giving a convincing account of themselves in this match would be to banish the ghosts of being smacked upside the head by Pakistan at the SCG on Thursday. And how the Dutch would relish being able to say they beat both African sides in the tournament.
When: Sunday, November 6
, 10.30am Local Time (5.30am IST)
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Where: Adelaide Oval
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What to expect: Brunch. The tournament's only morning match creates more of the stuff we're not exactly short of at the sharp end of the group stage: uncertainty. But at least we know it will be a warm, dry day. And that we should be home by lunch.
Head to head: South Africa have won five of the six white-ball matches they have played against the Dutch. The other was washed out. But in the teams' only meeting in this format, in Chattogram during the 2014 T20 WC, South Africa got home by a marginal six runs.
Team watch:
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Netherlands:
Injured/Unavailable: Bas de Leede recovered well enough from being hit in the face by a Haris Rauf bouncer in Perth last Sunday to play, stitches in his cheek and all, against Zimbabwe in Adelaide on Wednesday.
Tactics/Matchups: Paul van Meekeren's economy rate for the tournament is 5.89, and de Leede got away with 3.50 against Zimbabwe. The Dutch will depend on them to keep it tight again. Max O'Dowd, who batted into the 16th over to score his second T20 WC half-century against Zimbabwe, will be lumped with doing more than his fair share of the batting.
Possible XI: Stephan Myburgh, Max O'Dowd, Tom Cooper, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards (capt), Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren, Brandon Glover
South Africa:
Injured/Unavailable: David Miller missed Thursday's match against Pakistan as a precaution because of back spasms, and his absence was felt. He looked good to go at training on Saturday and has been passed fit. But whether South Africa - who should be able to get the job done on Sunday without Miller - will want to give him another day's rest is a different issue. If Miller gets a game, maybe Tristan Stubbs, who has played all four of South Africa's matches in the tournament, will be told he's tired.
Tactics/Matchups: Temba Bavuma finally found something like form in his 19-ball 36 against Pakistan, and will hope to kick on from there. Quinton de Kock uncorked an unbeaten 47 off 18 in South Africa's washed out first match, against Zimbabwe in Hobart on October 24, but he went for a duck against Pakistan and for one against India in Perth last Sunday. So he'll be hungry.
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Possible XI: Temba Bavuma (capt), Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi
Did you know?
- ❤️Although Adelaide is second only to Sydney for harbouring the highest totals in the tournament, batters have made 18 bigger scores on other grounds.
- ❤️Stephan Myburgh owns the only score of more than 16 by a Dutchman against South Africa - 51 off 28 balls in Chattogram in the 2014 T20 WC.
😍South Africa and Netherlands have met once in a T20I before, at the 2014 World Cup. South Africa won by six runs.
😍In four matches at this venue so far in this World Cup, the average first innings score is 164, and the chasing team has only won once.
What they said:
"The shorter the format, the closer the teams. I don't think there's as many ... well, they call them upsets. Ten years ago there would have been one a tournament. You're seeing it happen more and more now. Teams are getting more clued up on how they want to prepare and what needs to be done to win games. It's something that's evolved over the last 10 years or so." - Roelof van der Merwe hopes to help add to the upsets at the tournament.
"In T20, teams get closer together. And we still need to beat them. They've shown that they can play good cricket. Hopefully it's only in patches. If we bring our A game I reckon we should have enough." - Don't talk to Wayne Parnell about upsets.
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Squads:
Netherlands Squad: Stephan Myburgh, Max ODowd, Tom Cooper, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards(w/c), Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren, Brandon Glover, Timm van der Gugten, Teja Nidamanuru, Tim Pringle, Vikramjit Singh, Shariz Ahmad
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South Africa Squad: Temba Bavuma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi,l Tabraiz Shamsi, David Miller, Reeza Hendricks, Keshav Maharaj, Marco Jansen
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