South Africa vs Netherlands Prediction: South Africa to nab a win, de Kock to fire

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Super 12s is in the concluding stages and what an awesome World Cup we have witnessed. New Zealand was the first one to qualify and the host Australians underperformed. The battles for the Semis have gone down to the wire. Let us see how the Semis going to shape up, there is a chance that all the final games will go down the wire. How will South Africa close out their Super 12s campaign as they take on the Netherlands who crashed out long ago. This will be my last write-up for this year’s World Cup, see you cricket fans soon!

South Africa come into this game after suffering a 34-runs defeat in the rain-reduced game. Their in-form bowling was on song early but lost the way as Pakistan piled up 185 runs. They had an amazing start, picking up four wickets for 43 runs in 5.2 Overs but then their bowling attack was taken to task by first Mohammad Haris who made 28 runs in 11 balls but the decisive blows were dealt by Iftikhar Ahmad and even more so by Shadab Khan who plundered 52 runs in 22 balls to close out the innings. Kagiso Rabada conceded 44 runs, Anrich Nortje 41 but took four wickets, whereas Tabraiz Shamsi conceded 36 runs. Wayne Parnell and Lungi Ngidi did much better, combining for 63 runs in eight overs for two wickets.

While the rain did interfere in a big way in the South African plans, they didn’t get off to a big start, losing Quinton de Kock for just a run and after losing Rilee Rossouw at 16, Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram took the bowling to task, adding 39 runs in 27 balls but just as the innings was taking flight, Bavuma fell after making 36 runs in 19 innings, which was his best innings in a while. When Markram fell after making 20 off 14, the team was in tatters. However, the rain interfered and only made the matters worse as the team was asked to chase down 73 runs in 30 balls and they couldn’t even get close in the end.

This was a rather tame effort after the win against India where the team bowled their hearts out and this inconsistency has plagued South Africa rather way too much during the recent days. However, despite these inconsistencies, they have exceeded expectations and with a well-rounded unit remain one of the title contenders. But, first, they need to close out the game here.

Netherlands played an awesome game against Zimbabwe winning by five wickets and two overs to spare. Their bowling was amazing as they contained Zimbabwe to just 117 runs. All bowlers were on fire and they gave just 20 runs in the six-overs powerplay and took three wickets. The game turned in their favor completely when Bas de Leede got the wicket of Sikandar Raza when the score was 92, and Raza was looking dangerous as he made 40 runs in just 24 balls. Sean Williams scored 28 for Zimbabwe but Netherlands’ bowling effort was too clinical. Seamer Paul van Meekeren was the leading wicket-taker with three wickets whereas Brandon Glover, Bas de Leede, and Logan van Beek took two each while seamer Fred Klassen took one.

Batting-wise, the team recovered brilliantly after losing Stephan Myburgh for 17 runs and then Max O’Dowd and Tom Cooper formed a 73 runs partnership in just 57 balls which reduced the target to 28 runs in seven overs. After a brief wobble, the Netherlands knocked down the target. Max O’Dowd scored an impressive 52 runs in 37 balls with Cooper’s 32 runs in 29 balls doing a great supporting role. This was surely one of the more impressive wins against a red-hot Zimbabwe team. The Netherlands play a formal game as they have already been knocked out long ago.

• South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Rilee Russuow, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada;
• Netherlands: Collin Ackermann, Max O’Dowd, Paul Van Meekeren, Bas de Leede, Fred Klaasen.

This is a big game for South Africa and of course, they will enter as the favorites. They were in superb rhythm before the loss against Pakistan and surely have a ton of power hitters in the lineup. If Temba Bavuma has returned to form then it is a bonus but in the end, de Kock and Russuow will need to be more consistent up top. Both teams have superb seamers but South Africa has a more proven lineup. Nonetheless, I expect South Africa to win here rather easily.