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NEW YORK: South Africa survived an early scare before David Miller guided them to a nervy four-wicket victory over the Netherlands in the Twenty20 World Cup in Long Island, New York on Saturday.
Miller hit an unbeaten 59 off 51 balls as South Africa scored 106 for six in 18.5 overs in reply to the Dutch total of 103 for nine.
It was second successive win for South Africa in Group ‘D’ and a first defeat for the Dutch after they beat Nepal in Dallas.
The Dutch, put into bat, were immediate pressure from tall opener Marco Jansen and had only scored 35-4 after 10 overs.
They pushed up the run rate towards the end of their innings when Sybrand Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek shared a 54-run partnership for the seventh wicket before South African-born Engelbrecht fell for 40 in the last over.
Newcomer Ottneil Baartman took three wickets in the last over to finish with figures of 4-11 and Jansen and Anrich Nortje claimed two wickets each.
The Netherlands took a wicket with the first ball of South Africa’s innings as hesitant calling led to a mix-up and Quinton de Kock was run out without facing a ball.
That precipitated a sudden panic as Reeza Hendricks was bowled and captain Aiden Markram caught down the leg side as South Africa slumped to 3-3.
Heinrich Klaasens dismissal in the fifth over had South Africa teetering at 12-4 before Stubbs and Miller set about the modest target with a 65-run partnership.
When Stubbs fell in the 17th over, however, 27 runs were still required for victory but Miller took his side over the line.
“It was just a good finish in the end,” a relieved Miller said afterwards. Credit to the Netherlands bowlers — they bowled really well. They made it difficult for us to score. But we have got over the line with our tailenders, so I have faith.”
Proteas captain Aiden Markram said his team had overcome a psychological hurdle with the victory over the Dutch after their previous high-profile losses.
“We knew they were always going to up for a scrap,” Markram said. “It’s a game of cricket ultimately. The history before this game was obviously they beat us. It’s a mental blockade — and we were under pressure again today.”
South Africa play Bangladesh on Monday and the Dutch face Bangladesh on Thursday.
Scoreboards
South Africa vs Netharlands
NETHERLANDS:
M. Levitt c de Kock b Jansen 0
M. O’Dowd c Jansen b Baartman 2
V. Singh b Jansen 12
S. Engelbrecht c Jansen b Baartman 40
B. de Leede c Miller b Nortje 6
S. Edwards run out (Markram) 10
T. Nidamanuru c Klaasen b Nortje 0
L. van Beek c Nortje b Baartman 23
T. Pringle c Markram b Baartman 0
P. van Meekeren not out 1
EXTRAS (LB-2, NB-2, W-5) 9
TOTAL (for nine wickets, 20 overs) 103
DID NOT BAT: V. Kingma
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-1 (Levitt), 2-15 (O’Dowd), 3-17 (Singh), 4-32 (de Leede), 5-46 (Edwards), 6-48 (Nidamanuru), 7-102 (Engelbrecht), 8-102 (Pringle), 9-103 (van Beek)
BOWLING: Jansen 4-0-20-2 (1w, 1nb), Rabada 4-0-27-0 (1w), Baartman 4-0-11-4 (1w), Nortje 4-0-19-2 (1w, 1nb), Maharaj 4-0-24-0 (1w).
SOUTH AFRICA:
R. Hendricks b van Beek 3
Q. de Kock run out (van Meekeren/O’Dowd) 0
A. Markram c Edwards b Kingma 0
T. Stubbs c van Beek b de Leede 33
H. Klaasen c Pringle b Kingma 4
D. Miller not out 59
M. Jansen b van Beek 3
K. Maharaj not out 0
EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-1, W-2) 4
TOTAL (for six wickets, 18.5 overs) 106
DID NOT BAT: K. Rabada, A. Nortje, O. Baartman.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (de Kock), 2-3 (Hendricks), 3-3 (Markram), 4-12 (Klaasen), 5-77 (Stubbs), 6-88 (Jansen)
BOWLING: Kingma 4-1-12-2 (1w), van Beek 4-1-21-2, van Meekeren 4-1-13-0 (1w), de Leede 3.5-0-34-1 (1nb), Pringle 2-0-14-0, Singh 1-0-11-0.
RESULT: South Africa won by four wickets.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: David Miller
(South Africa)