T20 World Cup 2024: Netherlands vs South Africa Best Bets

The Netherlands and South Africa will square off on Saturday for the fifth time since November 2022 when they clash in Match 16 of the 2024 at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York. Both teams have claimed two victories each in their last four meetings, but South Africa’s concerns will be heightened because their two surprising losses came in ICC events. Let’s look at the best bets for this encounter.

Venue: Nassau County International Cricket Stadium

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Despite finishing last at the Cricket World Cup last year, the Netherlands gained many admirers. Scott Edwards’ team started strong in Group D with a six-wicket win over Nepal, chasing 107 in Dallas with Max O’Dowd’s unbeaten half-century sealing the victory with eight balls to spare.

Vivian Kingma was the only bowler not to take a wicket against Nepal. Tim Pringle and Logan van Beek grabbed three wickets each, with Paul van Meekeren and Bas de Leede taking two. All three of the latter trio also shone against South Africa in Dharamsala last November. Notably, eight players from the 2023 CWC win are available for another clash with South Africa this weekend.

South Africa also began with a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka, chasing down the target with 22 balls left. Anrich Nortje, with 4/7, earned Player of the Match honours, and Ottneil Baartman impressed with 1/9 from four overs as Sri Lanka was bowled out for 77. The pitch has been a talking point, given India’s dominance over Ireland there recently. Both teams will be mindful of this challenging surface ahead of their Sunday encounter.

South Africa’s batters, including Quinton de Kock and Heinrich Klaasen, found it tough to score freely on this pitch against Sri Lanka. They might adopt a more cautious approach against the Netherlands. With USA’s surprise win over Pakistan in mind, South Africa will need to stay focused to avoid another upset against their European rivals.

It’s impossible to ignore just how destructive Anrich Nortje was this past Monday, with Sri Lanka’s batters unable to score from him, with four of them losing their wickets. Nortje and the rest of the Proteas’ attack should prove to be too much for the Dutch. Back the Proteas to win this game.

Players to Watch: Logan van Beek struck with his first ball of the tournament against Nepal and has taken a three-wicket haul in three of his last five T20Is. He comes into this bowler-friendly pitch in New York after not conceding more than 7.66 runs per over in this format across his last eight matches.

Anrich Nortje struggled in this year’s IPL, taking seven wickets at an average of 42.00 and with an economy rate of 13.36. But the South African pacer will be relishing a return to New York after taking a wicket in all four of his overs against Sri Lanka. He has a brilliant record in T20WCs where he averages a wicket every 10.2 balls from 11 matches.

Key Stats

Ahead of the Canada vs Ireland game, a combined 173 runs had been scored for the loss of 20 wickets from 35.1 overs by the teams batting first in the two T20Is at this venue.

Both of Netherlands victories (T20I and ODI) over South Africa have come when batting first.

South Africa had won only two of their previous 13 completed T20Is before their win over Sri Lanka in Match 4.

Max O’Dowd is averaging 59.00 from his last four T20I innings compared to his T20I career average of 30.46. He comes into this game averaging 33 in all white-ball cricket against South Africa’s last bowling attack.

Similarly, Scott Edwards averages 74 in ODIs and T20Is against South Africa’s previous bowling attack, including 36 runs off Kagiso Rabada without being dismissed.

Anrich Nortje has taken a four-wicket haul in three of his last five T20WC appearances.

In the 50-over format, Aiden Markram has scored 50 runs from 39 balls bowled by Paul van Meekeren for just one dismissal.

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