It's time for the Dutch to party

How many of the cricket fans around the world were interested following today’s match between the red-hot South Africa and Holland at Dharamsala remains a moot question. Perhaps, the cricket fans thought of having a break because of the popcorn blockbusters coming up. But after Afghanistan tamed England a few days back, Holland thought of dishing out one of their own to create history.

The Dutch featured in the ICC Cricket World Cup after a hard-fought qualifier and the matches they played in this tournament have earned the accolades. They have a history of taming the big guns in the T20 format — but not in the longer formats, they were yet to trigger a shockwave.

After the dominating victory against Sri Lanka and Australia South Africa, having won by more than 100 runs, after posting totals of 428 and 311,– South Africa became the Team to beat in this event along with India — and their start against Holland in a rain-affected match was going according to the script.

Lungi Ngidi took the new ball ahead of Kagiso Rabada but it was the latter who struck first, with his first ball of the match no less. Marco Jansen joined the show followed by Coetze and Ngidi leaving the Dutch reeling.

Another South African supremacy was on the cards with the Dutch having slipped to 50 for 4 then lurched to 140 for 7.

Well, the Dutch skipper Scott Edwards showed up from nowhere like the Dark Knight and started attacking.

Edwards’ crucial stands worth 64 with Roelof van der Merwe — 29 off 19 and an unbroken 41 with Aryan Dutt as the Dutch piled on 105 runs from the last nine overs. Edwards finished on 78 not out off 69 deliveries, Dutt added an excellent 23 off nine and, at 245 for 8,

Edwards, Dutt, and van der Merwe executed some extraordinary strokes that dented the confidence of South Africa and it was evident when the Proteas came out to bat.

The Dutch bowlers just kept the basics right — on a deck that had a bit of something for the bowlers after the rain and clouds overhead, they kept on pitching the ball consistently around the off-stump and nipping it back and away when needed.

Quite surprisingly, the South African top-order, lacked the footwork and ideal backlift against the Dutch bowlers — Ackerman accounted for the dangerous Quinton de Kock with a full and flatter one, the Bull Dog van der Merwee tamed Temba Bavuma with a length delivery angling towards middle and leg, Aiden Markram was stunned with an accurate nip-backer and the deadly Rassie van der Dussen — who was shut down for a while and then succumbed to a reverse-sweep against van der Merwee — 44 for 4 and all the in-form batsmen were back in the hut.

The Dutch grew in stature and South Africa started to melt. The body language of the Dutch became more confident and threw more bodies on the field that never left the pressure off as the South Africans looked for a recovery. But the Dutch kept on attacking like a pack of wolves and with every delivery they hunted for the prey — the persistent pressure paid off — and the Dutch triggered another upset of this tournament.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar