Proteas win at Willowmoore Park and secures World Cup qualification with victory in Pink ODI

South Africans might as well rejoice because the Proteas’ two wins in their two ODI matches against the Netherlands on March 31 and April 2 sees them with a foot in the World Cup in India later this year. An improved net run rate should also see them through, even if Ireland claims a clean …

April 4, 2023

Lebohang Pita 3 minutes read

Learners from local schools came to watch their heroes.

South Africans might as well rejoice because the Proteas’ two wins in their two ODI matches against the Netherlands on March 31 and April 2 sees them with a foot in the World Cup in India later this year.

An improved net run rate should also see them through, even if Ireland claims a clean sweep against Bangladesh next month.

The Proteas claimed an emphatic 146-run victory in the Pink ODI at the Wanderers on April 2 thanks to Aiden Markram’s match-winning 175 off 126 balls and Sisanda Magala’s 5/43.

But this all began with their confidence-boosting eight-wicket victory on March 31 at Willowmoore Park.

Many may question the excitement over this victory given the calibre of the opposition, but lest we forget, the Netherlands inflicted pain and humiliation on the Proteas last year during the T20 World Cup in Adelaide, Australia.

So, Willowmoore Park provided the Proteas with a perfect platform to avoid another humiliation of going to India via a qualification process because, for all their might and status, it should be a given that South Africa go to the World Cup automatically.

In a community deprived of Proteas cricket since 2016, the fans really came through. Despite the threat of rain being a party-pooper and the chilly conditions, the grass embankment was full of cheering fans waving their flags and the main grandstand was in full song thanks to the melodic sounds of the brass band from Alexandra.

So, it all began and echoes could be heard from afar when Temba Bavuma led his team to field dressed in their green and gold.

But the cheers quickly turned into worry when the Dutch opening pair of Max O’Dowd and Vikramat Singh raced to an opening-stand of 58 which included Singh’s two massive maximums off South Africa talisman Kagiso Rabada in the seventh over.

Enter Magala, and the openers were soon back in the dressing room.

It was O’Dowd who breathed a sigh of relief as Marco Jansen’s spell had him cornered and started the collapse after edging to wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock.

Singh followed a short while later. After launching another six off Magala, he mis0timed the quick’s slow ball and was caught at mid-off by Bavuma, falling five runs short of a half-century.

The visitors lost their third wicket when South Africa-born Wesley Barresi hauled an Anrich Nortje delivery to Kagiso Rabada on the fine-leg boundary.

The visitors’ skipper, Scott Edwards, and Ahmed Musa’s attempted to wrestle momentum last when Edwards was lured into a drive off Nortje, but instead edged the ball to Jansen at slip. Musa nicked Tabraiz Shamsi, and the visitors were in trouble at 105/5 after 26 overs.

Teja Nidamanuru mounted a fightback but fell for 48 when he edged Magala before Shamsi and Jansen cleaned up the Netherlands’ tail for a resounding win for South Africa.

The visitors were dismissed for 189.

Magala and Shamsi ended with three scalps each, Anrich Nortje two, and Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen took one wicket each.

Chasing 190 to win, skipper Bavuma led from the front with a commanding 90 runs off 79 balls, scoring eight fours and a six.

Despite losing the wicket of Quinton de Kock (nine off 21) early on in the chase, Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen put South Africa on cruise control with a second-wicket partnership of 70 before Van der Dussen was dismissed for 31 off 41 after top-edging a Fred Klassen bouncer to Ahmed Musa at midwicket.