The Netherlands crushes South Africa in a World Cup surprise.

With a surprising 38-run victory against South Africa on Tuesday, the Netherlands added another chapter to the Cricket World Cup‘s Cinderella stories, just days after Afghanistan stunned reigning champions England.

South Africa began their chase of a challenging 246 from their permitted 43 overs calmly, but they quickly lost four wickets to fall from 36/0 to 44/4. Although they offered some resistance, David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen also gave in to the strain put on them by the persistent Dutch bowlers. Only Keshav Maharaj’s late-game appearance kept South Africa from suffering a humiliating loss.

Given that they aren’t known as one of the best cricket teams in the world, the Netherlands’ victory was a remarkable achievement. However, they have displayed amazing determination and tenacity in the competition thus far, and their victory over South Africa is a credit to their talent and hard effort.

Netherlands start the chase with a maiden over, de Kock falls early

In the opening over of South Africa’s chase, Aryan Dutt delivered a maiden, setting the tone for an aggressive bowling effort from the Netherlands. With a couple of boundaries to start the innings, Quinton de Kock appeared to be in terrific form. Temba Bavuma also made a few accurate strokes, including one for six, to help South Africa get off to a good start.

But in the fourth over, Dutt delivered a crucial punch when de Kock gloved a sweep ball and Scott Edwards made a brilliant catch. The Netherlands swiftly enlisted the services of seasoned spinner Roelof van der Merwe since this was the cure-all they needed.

Experienced Dutch spinner strikes twice, quicks get early help

Aryan Dutt, a seasoned left-arm spinner, delivered two devastating blows to increase the pressure on South Africa. As soon as Rassie van der Dussen played a careless reverse sweep that went right to backward point, he forced Rassie van der Dussen to clean up Temba Bavuma with an arm-ball that slipped through. Between those two events, Paul van Meekeren severely injured South Africa by dismissing Aiden Markram.

The pitch wasn’t substantially different from the Netherlands innings, but solid strokeplay was still important. The quicks, on the other hand, definitely received support early on, and the oddity may have slid a little.

Miller and Klaasen look good for South Africa, but Klaasen falls to a harmless short ball

David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen, who looked to be settling well, had South Africa’s best chance of matching the Netherlands’ score. However, it was one of those Dharamsala evenings where everything continued to go the Netherlands’ way.

Klaasen was holed out to fine leg off an innocuous short ball down the leg side, despite Klaasen often being an excellent player of short balls. South Africa had just begun to gain ground in the effort, therefore this was a major setback for them.

Jansen and Miller fall, South Africa’s hopes fade

South Africa’s dreams of matching the total of the Netherlands were dashed when Marco Jansen and David Miller fell in rapid succession. Gerald Coetzee had been supporting Miller well, but soon the pressure came to him.

The outcome was never truly in doubt once Miller was fired. Despite giving up a few runs at the end thanks to some lusty punches from Keshav Maharaj, the Netherlands eventually won easily.

Netherlands recover from early wobble to stun South Africa 

When the Netherlands were put into bat, they were in trouble at 50/4 and 82/5 before captain Scott Edwards stepped up with a valiant half-century. Edwards had amazing fortitude and extended his innings, showing a preference for the spin of Keshav Maharaj.

South Africa still retained the advantage over the Netherlands at 140/7 despite several strikes. But after that, the game significantly swung to the Netherlands’ advantage.

Van der Merwe and Edwards join forces to blitz South Africa

In just 36 balls, Roelof van der Merwe and Scott Edwards produced a thrilling 64-run standoff, turning the game around. Van der Merwe was especially bold and risk-taking, surprising the South African bowlers with his confidence. As a result, Edwards was able to concentrate on rotating the strike and raised the stakes for himself in the later innings. The Netherlands scored an incredible 104 runs off the final nine overs thanks to the cameo contributions of Aryan Dutt and others.

It was a remarkable comeback, and the Netherlands advanced into the second half thanks to the momentum. The target may still have been reached, but South Africa’s hitters, who had been in excellent form during