🏏ICC Men's T20I WC 2022 - NED vs RSA, M-40th, Super 12 Group 2🏏 - Page 2

South Africa and Netherlands will play against each other in their final T20 World Cup 2022 tie in the Super 12 stage. Netherlands are bowing out of the tournament after this game while Proteas men will be looking for a win as they are stuck on just 5 points as against 6 points of India. They are currently on the second spot with the best NRR in the group. If South Africa win this contest, they will easily move into the semis. The battle for the second spot will then be between India and Pakistan.

South Africa vs Netherlands Pitch Report

The pitch at Adelaide Oval looks good for batting. The batters enjoy batting on this surface as the ball comes nicely onto the bat. The bowlers will have to be disciplined with their lines and lengths while bowling on this surface.

It's pretty straightforward, as Wayne Parnell put it: South Africa are in the knockout stages. They must beat Netherlands to go through to the semi-finals and if you'd said that pre-tournament, many would have thought the conclusion foregone, but this has been a World Cup of surprises and perhaps there's one more?

India will need to beat Zimbabwe to qualify. It is as easy as that for them. Pakistan will need to beat Bangladesh and hope India lose their clash. Babar Azam's side are in this difficult scenario because they lose their first two matches vs India and Zimbabawe respectively. They have done well to fight till here after those two debacles. They beat Netherlands and South Africa in their next two matches to intensify the race to the semifinals in Group 2. Otherwise, India and South Africa were sailing through.

This World Cup has been a World Cup of upsets. We have already seen big teams going down. Ireland have done it. Netherlands too have done and they certainly have the calibre in them to beat South Africa on Sunday.

An early start may prove challenging for the batters because the ball won't skid on as it does at night. Expect inconsistent bounce and a slowish start, although runs may come from the short, square boundaries. The surface also won't offer the quicks as much as some of the other venues, which could take the sting out of the contest to some degree. There's been rain in the lead-up to this match but Sunday's forecast is clear.

Weather Report

After a tournament of cold evenings and wet conditions, this match will see sunshine and highs of 24 degrees.

Stats and trivia

• 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.

Quotes

"It's a crucial game for us. In T20 cricket, teams get closer. We still have to play well to beat them. They are a quality side. They've shown they can play good cricket. Hopefully it's only in patches and if we bring our A game, I reckon we should have enough."

South Africa are hoping the game won't get as close as it did against Pakistan, according to Wayne Parnell

"We do understand the significance of the game if we do beat South Africa. But obviously for us it's just playing a game and beating South Africa, so we don't think too far outside of that. But we just have to do what we've done well, and if we do that well against South Africa, you never know, we might have a good day against them."

Roelof van der Merwe on the fact that Pakistan's fate depends on them beating South Africa

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 World T20.

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.

Thanks for the tag Madhu.🤗

May the best team win.

Cheers..

Surprisingly, today's all 3 matches are crucial and deciders!!! Who will go to Semis ??

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.

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 World Cup half-century against Zimbabwe, will be lumped with doing more than his fair share of the batting.

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 World T20, South Africa got home by a marginal six runs.

Of course, South Africa retain a high chance of winning today.

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 - SA should seal their spot regardless of who else does what in Sunday's triple header.