The ongoing World Cup 2023 has been a tournament filled with surprising upsets! Just a few days after Afghanistan’s stunning victory over defending champions England, the 14th-ranked Netherlands caused yet another major upset by defeating South Africa, currently the 3rd-ranked ODI team.
Netherlands held on to their belief in themselves despite facing the formidable South African team. They managed to secure a remarkable 38-run win against the higher-ranked opponent.
In a rain-affected match, Netherlands, led by a captain’s innings from Scott Edwards, made a remarkable recovery to post 245 for eight in their World Cup clash against South Africa in Dharamsala on Tuesday. The intermittent rain added a chill to the mountain air and reduced the game to a 43-over contest.
South Africa, under the overcast sky, unsurprisingly chose to bowl first, utilizing their strong pacers like Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, and Lungi Ngidi, who extracted significant movement from the surface. However, South Africa’s death overs bowling left much to be desired as the Netherlands plundered 68 runs in the last five overs. The Netherlands were struggling at 140 for seven in the 34th over when Edwards (78 off 69) and Roelof van der Merwe (29 off 19) entertained the audience with a 64-run partnership off just 37 balls, pushing the team past the 200-run mark.
In response, South African batsmen, with the exception of David Miller and Keshav Maharaj, lacked the determination to put up a fight as Netherlands bowlers continually disrupted their innings. In the end, South Africa was all out for 207.
The victory was mainly down to their captain Scott Edwards inning and won the Man of the Match award. Surprisingly, there has been only 2 captains in this World Cup 2023 who have won the Man of the Match award.
Scott Edwards
The first and the most recent name being the Netherlands captain Scott Edwards. Coming in at number 7, Edwards scored 78 runs of 69 balls that included 10 fours and only six with a strike rate of 113. It was his inning that ensured a win for the Dutch side.
Rohit Sharma
Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma is the other captain to have won the Man of the Match. He received the award for his scintillating century vs Afghanistan on the 11th of October. Rohit scored 131 runs from 84 balls that included 16 fours and 5 sixes. India won the match chasing 273 runs.
