One of the calm days wherein you can just relax yourself and just go through the scorecard when you feel like and watch the match at times if you think and rest yourself. Having this thought? Sorry, this is World Cup wherein expect the unexpected. South Africa and Netherlands would be squaring off each other and this would surely be a contest to watch for.
South Africa: The South African team is on fire and are in all guns blazing mood as they hammered the Aussies in their last match by 134 runs albeit Kagiso Rabada’s fiery spell of 3/ 33. They would like to keep the same momentum and not take any opposition light. Quinton de Kock is on fire and has been converting his fifties to hundreds and this being his last ODI WC, he wants to bow out in a manner it would be remembered for ages. Rassie Van der Dussen, Markram are giving the backup support with handy contribution from captain Bavuma who has been in complete shape since a year in the ODI format. In the bowling front, Marco Jansen has been ably supporting Rabada and Ngidi and Maharaj has been taking care of the spin department and the team is completely balanced now and are slowly inching towards the top. Will there be a force which can stop this South African team’s form? Time would only say.
)
Netherlands: The Netherlands team are on a roll and have been punching above their weight and are providing a great impetus and being true and perfect to their selection to the WC. Although they are languishing at the bottom of the table, but the spirit has never died down in their camp. Their effort in roping the local bowlers for practice before the tournament has paid good for them and they are doing well, specially in the batting part. Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann are the standout stars for the Dutch team and others would need to chip in to make it complete for the team. They are dark horses, they can provide an out of the box performance and impress the cricket fraternity. Watch out for them going all the way to provide the performance every cricket fan wishes for.
Probable Playing XI:
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (WK), Temba Bavuma (C), Rassie Van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Tarbraiz Shamsi / Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee
Netherlands: Max O Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards (C & WK), Sybrand Engelbrecht, Roelof Van der Merwe, Ryan Klein, Aryan Dutt, Paul Van Meekeren.
Interesting Facts and Stats:
(*) Roelof Van der Merwe, who is playing for Netherlands in this WC, has also played for South Africa earlier.
(*) These two teams have played 7 games against each other in this format so far, where South Africa won 6 games against the Netherlands, as one of the games between them got abandoned. Another good game is expected here between these two sides.
(*) Quinton de Kock averages 7.5 against Netherlands in International Cricket.
Pitch, Weather, Toss and Venue (Credits: www.cricketaddictor.com):
The Dharamsala surface is considered to be one of the most seamer-friendly pitches in the country. The winds tend to provide extra assistance to the pacers.
There is little help on offer for the spinners on this track. Batsmen will need to negotiate the early movement to pile up big runs here. As the game progresses, the surface will become easier to bat on.
Temperature - 33°C
Humidity - 49%
Date: 17th October 2023
Time: 2:00 PM IST
Venue: Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association, Dharamsala
Dream XI Team:
