New Delhi: The South African cricket team will be looking to extend their undefeated run in the ICC World Cup 2023 when they take the field against the struggling Netherlands at Dharamsala on Tuesday.
South Africa and the Netherlands are having polar opposite fates in the World Cup at the moment as the Proteas will walk into the match with two wins in two matches and looking to make it three wins in a row, while the Dutch team will be looking to secure their first win as they have already lost two out of the two matches they have played so far in the world cup.
Bottom-placed #Netherlands face high-flying #SouthAfrica at Dharamshala 🏏
Can #NED repeat their 2022 #T20WC heroics vs #SA❓@joybhattacharj & Simon Doull preview the clash, on #CricbuzzLive #CWC2023 pic.twitter.com/qyXBt6er9g
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) October 17, 2023
Journey so far
Netherlands upstaged them at the 2022 T20 World Cup, but are an in-form South Africa too strong for them in the ODI format?@DeepDasgupta7 looks ahead to the contest with @FirdoseM on #IndusIndBank #CheerForGreatness #SAvNED #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/cSJoSDl9eQ
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 17, 2023
In the ICC World Cup 2023, the South African cricket team have so far won both their matches as they first defeated Sri Lanka by 102 runs and then the five-time champions Australia by 137 runs.
South Africa is enjoying a great campaign with all three departments clicking. They have so far scored four centuries, with Quinton de Kock scoring back-to-back centuries while the other batsmen also play attacking cricket, putting 350 plus scores in both matches, and the pace battery of Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada making sure that their opponents don’t come even close to the target.
On the other hand, the Netherlands have lost both their matches against Pakistan and New Zealand by huge margins of 81 and 99 runs, respectively.
The Dutch team will need to start performing as a unit if they want to get some points under their belt. They need to take inspiration from the Afghanistan team, who already created one upset in the tournament by defeating the defending champions, England, by 69 runs.
The Dutch team are also capable enough to pull another heist of the tournament as they have already pulled one even before the tournament begins by knocking out the two-time champions West Indies from the qualifiers and making the 2023 World Cup the first World Cup edition where the inaugural champions will not be featuring.
Head-to-head records
Things are ready to get hot in the cool climes of Dharamsala. #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/QzQng4FjsI
— Cricket🏏Netherlands (@KNCBcricket) October 16, 2023
As the head-to-head records are concerned, the South African team and the Netherlands have featured in seven ODIs against each other, with the Proteas coming out on top six times and one match ending in no contest, meaning the Netherlands are yet to score a victory against their opponents on Tuesday.
If we are to talk about the World Cups, these two have locked horns against each other three times, with the Proteas coming out as the winners in all the three instances.
So, if the Netherlands want to get their first win, they need to pull off a miracle on Tuesday and create one more historic upset in the World Cup’s history.
