South Africa vs Netherlands. 16th over. Four wickets for 112 runs. David Miller at the crease. For the victory, 47 runs are needed from 29 balls. Tell me, could South Africa have easily won the match in such a situation or not? This would be the answer of everyone knowledgeable; he could have won. But South Africa lost the match. Because of a catch-out. It may sound like an exaggeration, but it is a fact.
South Africa Had A Match!
In their last Super 12 match, the Netherlands beat South Africa by 13 runs. This is the climax; let’s come to the scene of the match where the match turned.
South Africa won the toss and took fielding. The Netherlands played the full twenty overs. Gave a target of 158 runs for four wickets. Stephen Myberg, Max O’Dowd, Tom Cooper and Colin Ackerman put together a decent score.
The team South Africa came on the field. The initial order was settled cheaply. Captain Temba Bavuma and in-form Quinton de Kock also could not do much. But the runs continued to be scored, so the team was in a comfortable position till the arrival of David Miller. The pair of Miller and Heinrich Klaasen brought the score of four for 90 to 111 by the 15th. Then came the in-famous over.
First Ball: Klaasen takes a single.
Second Ball: David Miller on strike. Glover’s shot pitches the ball. Miller wanted to bridge. The ball hit the top edge of the bat and rose towards the square leg. Roolof van der merwe was caught at short fine leg. When the ball grew, he started running backwards and took a brilliant catch. The commentators jumped up and said, Catch of the tournament. That’s where the match turned.
Because David Miller’s wicket was South Africa’s biggest wicket in that situation, two balls later, newcomer Wayne Parnell also returned. The 16th over was very heavy. 4 runs and 2 wickets.
Then a total of three runs came out in the 17th over. Klaasen was also caught out on the third ball of the 18th over. South Africa’s hopes were ruined with 5 runs and one wicket.
Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada took 10 runs in the 19th over. But 26 runs were needed in the last over. Wide and no balls also came in the last over, but the result of the match was visible.
This is not the first time South Africa has been dazzled in a crucial match of the World Cup. 1992, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 – they have seen it all. But this can be counted as his worst defeat in the World Cup. This victory of the Netherlands opened the way for Pakistan’s semi-finals, and by winning their last group match, Pakistan also qualified for the semi-finals.
