🏏 Cricket World Cup 2023: Match #15: South Africa vs Netherlands 🏏

Recent World Cup matches have seen minnows pull off stunning wins over the favorites!!

Will South Africa be able to prevent the Dutch from winning over them this time?

Will this budding Netherlands team bid adieu after this game's outcome?

Today will be an exciting thriller to watch!

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🏏 Cricket World Cup 2023: Match #15: South Africa vs Netherlands 🏏

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The Proteas are soaring in their campaign and are set to seek a straightforward triumph against the Dutch. The underdogs of the tournament have displayed sporadic shows of skill and are aiming for a comprehensive performance against South Africa.

South Africa and the Netherlands are in contrasting positions in the league table.

While the Proteas have done extremely well with their two victories so far, the Dutch are struggling with two defeats as they take on each other in a crucial match.

The Dutch will be hoping to grind up some kind of positive result that will keep them alive in this tournament.

South Africa, by virtue of their quality, does have to make a massive change to win the game. But the Dutch will be taking inspiration from the Afghanistan team that toppled England yesterday.

But considering all these things, we believe lightning can't strike twice and expect South Africa to get a routine victory at Dharamshala.

The match between South Africa and the Netherlands on Tuesday, and for those watching more than for those playing. But the spectators will know that already. The teams, although they have trained in these conditions in the past few days, having come from warmer climes, are in for a rude awakening. And, for one of them, not only in a meteorological sense.

The South Africans have swooped into Dharamsala on the wings of victories over Sri Lanka and Australia. Another win, and they will have to make a mess of things to not reach the semifinals. The Dutch have lost to Pakistan and New Zealand. Another loss, and the bubble of bliss they entered by qualifying for the tournament ahead of the West Indies and Zimbabwe in July will burst with a bang.

As the South Africans know only too well, the Dutch have more than enough skill and grit to beat the best.

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South Africa vs Netherlands H2H Record

Played: 3 South Africa Wins: 3 Netherlands Wins: 0

South Africa

Probable XI: Temba Bavuma (C), Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Gerald Coetzee, Lungi Ngidi

Netherlands

Probable XI: Vikramjit Singh, Max O'Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards (C), Sybrand Engelbrecht, Roelof van der Merwe, Ryan Klein, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren

Teams

South Africa

Given the combination of the dimensions of the outfield and the expected weather, maybe a second spinner isn't a good idea. The South Africans might also want to unleash their full fast bowling power ahead of the bigger games to come, if only to remember where their bowling bread is buttered. Thus Gerald Coetzee could return at the expense of Tabraiz Shamsi.

Tactics & strategy: If they bat first and use all their overs, a total in excess of 400 is a distinct possibility. It isn't often a South African team arrives at a tournament tipped as a batting threat, and even less often that they fulfill that promise.

But, having registered four centuries in their first two matches - two by the white-hot Quinton de Kock - there is no doubt South Africa's line-up is feared. Not the least of the upsides is that that takes some of the pressure off an attack that is without key members. Sisanda Magala, for instance - who is out with a knee injury, took 8/80 in two ODIs against the Dutch in South Africa in March and April.

Netherlands

There were no happier cricketers on the planet than the Dutch when they nailed down one of the last two places at the World Cup at the qualifiers in Zimbabwe in June and July. Now that they've lost to Pakistan and New Zealand at the main event, the smiles have no doubt faded. There's quality in their ranks and levels of planning and belief that could teach other teams a lesson, but it's difficult to imagine them leaving this tournament with good memories.

Tactics & strategy: The Netherlands' results don't make for good reading, but Vikramjit Singh, Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann have scored half-centuries and de Leede took 4/62 against Pakistan. Improving will mean putting more performances like those together in one match.

As the South Africans know only too well, the Dutch have more than enough skill and grit to beat the best. But that's more easily done in T20Is. There are fewer places to hide their limitations in this format.

Dharamsala weather forecast

The weather took a colder turn in North India on Monday (October 16) evening as Delhi-NCR and Lucknow among other place witnessed thunderstorms at night. The after-effects are likely to be seen on Tuesday (October 17) as well with the South Africa-Netherlands match likely to witness some rain. The prediction stands at a 55 per cent probability of precipitation during the daytime as there is an afternoon shower is on the radar. The forecast remains clear for the rest of the evening.

Hence the match might witness an interruption or two but nothing threatening enough as far as the match getting abandoned is concerned. The temperatures will hover around a high of 17 degrees and a low of 10 degrees.

HPCA Stadium Dharamsala pitch report

The pitch has played differently in the two games in Dharamsala so far as in the first game Bangladesh lost four wickets and it took them nearly 35 overs to chase down 157 runs. In the second game, England smashed 364 runs against Bangladesh but the common factor so far in both matches was the slowing up of the pitch. England too looked on course of getting 390-400 but lost wickets in clumps in the last 10 overs. The surface is likely to be a similar one for the Tuesday clash. The boundaries are small and the outfield albeit sandy, has been fast and the South African attack will enjoy a sporting pitch. The Netherlands have batted second in both games so far, if they win the toss on Tuesday, they might opt to bat first to put pressure on South Africa reminding them of the horrors of the T20 World Cup 2022 as the pitch will slow down and the batting might get difficult.

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Did you know?

- Teams batting second have won four of the six completed ODIs at this ground, and in the two they've lost they have been asked to overhaul the biggest totals made in Dharamsala: 364/9 and 330/6.

- Quinton de Kock, South Africa's leading batter at this tournament, averages a measly 8.5 in ODIs against the Dutch, albeit he has had just two innings against them.

- Since 2021, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma, David Miller and Rassie van der Dussen all averaged above 50 in overs and 11 to 40 in ODIs, as does Vikramjit Singh.

What they said:

"We'll just keep doing what we're doing. Against the Netherlands, nothing will be different. We'll assess conditions and play accordingly. The important thing is that we keep getting better and use that momentum." - Temba Bavuma offers an even straighter bat than he does at the crease.

"We've played some good cricket in patches. We just haven't put together enough phases where we dominate. We need to put together all three phases of the game to win." - Colin Ackermann has the theory down pat, now putting it into practice.

The fact that Netherlands had shocked South Africa in the 2022 T20 World Cup and knocked them out of the tournament will act as a morale-booster for them. However, ODI cricket requires a different set of skills and is a different kettle of fish altogether. When these teams played two ODIs earlier this year, the Proteas humbled the Dutch by massive margins of 8 wickets and 146 runs. It will require something special from the Netherlands to stop the Proteas’ juggernaut. Cricket is a game of uncertainties, though and only a pessimist would rule out the possibility of an upset. Who would have thought that Afghanistan would dismantle England, the defending champions?

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Roelof van der Merwe, who arrived on the international stage as a Protea, switched shirts in 2015, and is finally living his dream of playing in world cricket’s biggest tournament. He recalls his early visits to India courtesy the IPL and a tour he missed out on with the South African team in 2011. “It’s been a while since the IPL days but just thinking back on that, at the time in 2011, I was pretty disappointed not to have made the 50-overs World Cup team that year,” says van der Merwe before sighing in relief on “the opportunity that has finally come”