David Miller found the potion to dissolve the Dutch voodoo, scoring a magnificent 59 not out as South Africa stumbled to a four-wicket win last night against a side that has been their nemesis at World Cups in recent years.
Miller, scored the last 16 runs in what turned into a tense chase of just 104 runs, at Nassau County International Stadium in Long Island last night — saving the Proteas from what had been a nightmare start.
“Credit to the Netherlands bowlers, they bowled really well,” said Miller, who finished with an unbeaten 59 from 51 balls. “They made it difficult for us to score.”
After 27 balls in their innings, the Proteas were 12/4, with one batter run out, another caught down leg side, a third dismissed by a “peach”, and Heinrich Klaasen, caught at midwicket, desperately seeking the boundary.
South Africa finished the power play on 16/4, their worst in T20s, with survival and not boundaries at the top of their minds.
Miller and Tristan Stubbs showed patience and good judgement to get through that difficult period in which the Dutch executed with efficiency and undoubtedly offered reminders of their last two World Cup victories over the Proteas, including the one in Adelaide two years ago, which ended South Africa’s participation on that occasion.
The Proteas duo took stock at the halfway stage, and scored 33 runs in the four overs following that drinks break to gain some momentum. But the Dutch would have felt they were just one wicket away from getting the advantage again and, following an excellent maiden by the metronomic Paul van Meekeren in the 16th over, Stubbs succumbed to the pressure and was caught on the boundary for 33.
His partnership of 65 for the fifth wicket with Miller was vital in providing SA with a foundation, which allowed Miller to launch later.
With 16 needed off the last two overs, Miller made sure the 20th wouldn’t be bowled. He crushed the first ball of the penultimate over for six, lofted the fourth delivery for a boundary over the covers, and finished the match with another six over midwicket.
Miller struck three fours and four sixes.
The tension that enveloped the batting was absent when SA bowled, with Aiden Markram understandably choosing that option after winning the toss. There was a wicket in the first over for Marco Jansen, and he should have had another in the third but the delivery that found the outside edge of Vikram Singh’s bat, was a “no ball”.
Never mind, in his third over, Jansen knocked back Singh’s off stump, this time his front foot in a legal position. In between, Ottniel Baartman built pressure against the hard-hitting Max O’Dowd. Having frustrated the Dutch opener, he found the outside edge, with Jansen holding onto a blinder at first slip, diving down to his left, taking a one-handed catch.
At 48/6 in the 12th over, the Dutch were in danger of being dismissed without using their 20 overs, but Sybrand Englebrecht, who played for SA at the under-19 World Cup in 2008, steadied their innings, in partnership with Logan Van Beek.
They took 15 runs off the 19th over bowled by an off-colour Kagiso Rabada, hitting two fours, while Engelbrecht smashed a six over mid-wicket.
Their 54-run partnership was ended in the final over by Baartman, who squeezed Engelbrecht with a beautifully executed ”knuckle ball”, which the batter lifted to Jansen in the covers.
Nevertheless, in the context of this encounter, his innings of 40, was smartly constructed. Baartman was outstanding again, conceding just one run and picking up three wickets in that final over, and finishing with 4/11 from four overs.
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