World Cup: Netherlands set 246-run target for South Africa, Edwards scores fifty

Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh): Half-century by skipper Scott Edwards and his quickfire stands with Roelof van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt helped the Netherlands reach a respectable 245/8 in 43 overs in the World Cup match against South Africa at Dharamshala on Tuesday.

Put to bat first by South Africa in the 43-over-per-side affair due to rain, the Netherlands were off to a decent start with opener Max O'Dowd hitting Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen for fours. Vikramjit Singh tried to keep matters steady at the other end but did not last long. A top edge by Vikramjit landed in the hands of Heinrich Klaasen, giving Kagiso Rabada his first wicket.

Vikramjit was out for two and the Netherlands were 22/1 in 6.1 overs. O'Dowd was caught behind by Quinton de Kock on a delivery by Marco Jansen for 18 (25 balls, four boundaries).

The Netherlands were 24/2 in 7.1 overs. Bas de Leede and Colin Ackermann started to rebuild the innings, taking Netherlands to 32/2 in their 10 overs of powerplay.

Rabada got his second wicket, the big one of de Leede and The Netherlands were 40/3 in 10.5 overs.

The Dutch side reached the 50-run mark in 13.1 overs.

Ackermann was cleaned up by Gerald Coetzee for a struggling 13 (25 balls) and the Netherlands were reduced to 50/4 in 15.1 overs.

Sybrand Engelbrecht and Teja Nidamanuru took the Netherlands innings forward. Just when it looked like they take the side beyond 100 runs, Lungi Ngidi struck to remove Sybrand for 19 (37 balls). The Netherlands were 82/5 in 20.2 overs.

Skipper Scott Edwards joined Teja at the crease and took the Netherlands to the 100-run mark in 23.4 overs with the help of a fine boundary.

The 30-run partnership between the two ended with Jansen trapping Teja lbw for 20 (25 balls, three fours). The Netherlands were 112/6 in 27 overs.

Skipper Scott was joined by all-rounder Logan van Beek. They had a brief partnership before van Beek was stumped by de Kock for 10. Keshav Maharaj took his first wicket. The Netherlands were 140/7 in 33.5 overs.

Reolef van der Merwe came to the crease and released some pressure by smashing Coetzee for 15 runs in the 35th over, including two fours and a six and 150 runs came in 34.5 overs.

Reolof and Scott then launched a brutal assault on South African bowlers, with Edwards getting his 14th ODI fifty in 53 balls. They brought up a fifty-run stand in 30 balls.

The 64-run partnership ended after Reolof was caught behind by de Kock on a Ngidi delivery for 29 (19 balls, three fours and a six). The Netherlands were 204/8 in 39.5 overs.

Edwards and Aryan Dutt did not remove their feet from the accelerator. Dutt smashed three sixes preying on bad line and length of Rabada, Coetzee and Ngidi.

Netherlands ended at 245/8 in 43 overs, with Dutt 23* (nine balls) and Edwards 78* (69 balls, 10 fours and a six).
Jansen (2/28), Rabada (2/56) and Ngidi (2/56) were main strikers in South African bowling. Coetzee and Maharaj got a wicket each. (ANI)