South Africa vs Netherlands: The Dutches create history as they defeated the Proteas by 38 runs

South Africa invitem the Dutches to bat first in the rain-hit contest in Dharamsala on Tuesday. The Netherlands were 140/7 in the 34th over but captain Scott Edwards played a brilliant inning as he put up a partnership of 64 runs off just 37 balls with Roelof van der Merwe after No.10 Aryan Dutt smacked three sixes to conclude the batting inning. The Netherlands scored 245/8 as Edwards ended unbeaten on 78 off 69.

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Kagiso Rabada struck twice, while Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee picked a wicket each as the Netherlands lost four wickets with 50 on the board. Sybrand Engelbrecht and Teja Nidamanuru then added 32 runs before Rabada provided South Africa with another breakthrough.

South Africa got off to a good start to the chase with captain Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock putting up a steady opening stand. However, they collapsed from 36/0 to 44/4 between the eighth and 12th overs. Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller then seemed to provide stability but Klaasen fell while the score was 89 on the board.

The pitch offered variable bounce and some turn as the Netherlands found out an opportunity against the South African batting unit which shattered under pressure to be all out for 207 in 42.5 overs. They handed the Dutches their first World Cup win against a Test-playing nation. Until Tuesday, the Netherlands had only beaten fellow associate nations Namibia and Scotland in their World Cup history, having made their debut back in 1996. The surprising upset came 48 hours after Afghanistan shocked defending champions England in Delhi. The competition is getting serious now.