The South African cricket team was defeated by the Netherlands by a margin of 13 runs. The epic upset took place at the Adelaide Oval, which is known for producing thrillers in this T20 World Cup 2022. The Proteas required 159 in 20 overs to win the game, but they failed to produce any good partnership which could take them home. South Africa can only qualify for the semi-finals if the match between Pakistan and Bangladesh is washed out or drawn by some miracle.
The Netherlands, with this victory, have ensured that they would play the next T20 World Cup as part of Super 12 from the beginning. A massive achievement for their team. On the other hand. India would also be delighted as they have automatically qualified for the semi-finals after the defeat of South Africa. I think it’s now pretty apparent that South Africa is indeed the choker of the cricket world. They crumble at the most important moment in every ICC tournament.
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South Africa had won the toss and opted to bowl first. They were successful in restricting the Netherlands team to 158-4, which looked quite chase-able at the halfway mark in the match. However, things did not go as planned for the Proteas. For the Netherlands, Myburgh, ODowd Cooper and Ackermann were brilliant as they contributed 37, 29, 25 and 41 runs to the Dutch total. Except for Anrich Nortje and Keshav Maharaj, all Proteas lacked the spark that they needed to win the game.
Chasing 159 South Africa needed their top order to fire. However, all South African batters failed to convert their starts into big innings. Rilee Rossouw was the top-scorer for them with a meagre 25 runs to his name. Brandon Glover took 3 wickets for the Dutchmen, while Leede and Klaasen took 2 wickets each in the victory for the Netherlands.