T20 World Cup 2024: South Africa beat Netherlands by four wickets

South Africa defeated Netherlands by four wickets in the 16th match of the T20 World Cup 2024 played at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York on Saturday.

David Miller once again stood for the Proteas and cruised them to victory as they were once near to losing to the Netherlands for the third time in ICC events.

Chasing the 104-run target, South Africa had a terrible start as their top order was shaken by the Dutch bowlers and they were 12-4 in just 2.3 overs.

Reeza Hendricks (3 off 10), Quinton de Kock (0), Aiden Markram (0) and Heinrich Klaasen (4 off 7) walked back to the pavilion which put the Proteas in an uncomfortable position.

However, Tristan Stubbs and Miller combined for 65 runs which brought the Proteas back in the game.

Stubbs was removed by Bas de Leede in the 17th over and soon, Marco Jansen too departed for the pavilion. The wickets kept falling but Miller continued the charge against the Dutch and eventually led his side to victory with an innings of 59 not out.

Earlier in the first innings, the Proteas bowlers dominated the match and put the Dutch batters on the back foot from the very first over as their opener Michael Levitt was removed by Marco Jensen on the third ball of the innings.

South African bowlers continued with their attack against the Dutch and kept on sending their batters back to the pavilion without scoring big runs.

The Netherlands were soon 48-6 in 11.5 overs and it looked like another early collapse in New York but Sybrand Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek formed a crucial 54-run partnership that helped them cross the 100-run mark.

The partnership was broken by the Proteas’ Ottniel Baartman in the last over as the Netherlands concluded their innings at 103-9 in 20 overs.

Jensen and Anrich Nortje picked two wickets each while Baartman managed to remove four Dutch batters.

South Africa had won the toss and opted to bowl first in New York.

Playing XIs

South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram (capt), Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman

Netherlands: Max O'Dowd, Michael Levitt, Vikramjit Singh, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Teja Nidamanuru, Bas de Leede, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma