ICC
Adelaide
The Netherlands pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and sent South Africa tumbling out of semi-final contention at the tournament with an impressive 13-run victory over the Proteas in Adelaide on Sunday.
There were heroes all round for the Netherlands, as they successfully defended their decent total of 158/4 by restricting the Proteas to just 145/8 in reply.
Inexperienced seamer Brandon Glover (3/9) was superb with the ball, while 37-year-old veteran Roelof van der Merwe pulled in a contender for catch of the tournament to dismiss the dangerous David Miller.
Bas de Leede (2/25) also bowled well and it was the all-rounder that was entrusted to bowl the final over, with South Africa unable to score the 26 required from the last six deliveries to clinch victory.
If South Africa though they would cruise through this semi-final match and waltz into the semi-finals they were badly mistaken as the Netherlands took it right up to their more fancied opponent throughout.
Keshav Maharaj (2/27) and Anrich Nortje (1/10) were in good touch with the ball, but some late hitting from Colin Ackermann (41 from just 26 deliveries) gave the Proteas a decent total to try and chase down.
And that total proved too much, with no South Africa batters able to make it past 25 in reply as the Netherlands pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the T20 World Cup.
Scores: Netherlands 158 for 4 (Ackermann 41*, Myburgh 37, Cooper 35, Maharaj 2-27) beat South Africa 145 for 8 (Rossouw 25, Glover 3-9, Klaassen 2-20, de Leede 2-25) by 13 runs.