GameDay Squad Cricket Match Preview: Netherlands come up against South Africa in the 15th match of the ICC Men’s World Cup in Dharamsala on the 17th of October.
Netherlands played New Zealand in their second match of the CWC, and New Zealand won by 99 runs. Netherlands won the toss and sent New Zealand into bat and the Kiwis made the most of batting first. New Zealand were off to a solid start and lost their first wicket in the 13th over with the score at 67. Netherlands continued to pick up regular wickets and New Zealand ended up scoring 322 runs off their 50 overs. Netherlands were off to a slow start in their run chase and New Zealand kept the required run rate steadily climbing. New Zealand bowled the Netherlands out for 223 in the 47th over.
The top performers in GDS for Netherlands were.
Aryan Dutt – 113 points
Colin Ackermann – 91 points
Bas de Leede – 84 points
Paul van Meekeren – 72 points
Scott Edwards & Roelof van der Merwe – 69 points
South Africa played Australia in their second match of the CWC, and South Africa won by 134 runs. Australia won the toss and elected to field. South Africa were off to a great start and moved through to 108 in the 20th over before Bavuma was dismissed. Quinton de Kock scored his second century of the tournament as he helped South Africa make it through to 311/7 at the end of their 50 overs. South Africa started well with the ball and picked up the wickets of Marsh and Warner while the score was at 27. Following these dismissals, South Africa continued to pick up regular wickets and ended up bowling Australia out 177 in the 41st over.
The top performers in GDS for South Africa were.
Quinton de Kock – 159 points
Kagiso Rabada – 120 points
Marco Jansen – 91 points
Keshav Maharaj – 86 points
Lungi Ngidi – 84 points
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium and Pitch Information
HPCA Stadium has previously hosted six ODIs. Four of these have been won by the chasing team with an average of 230 runs being scored in the first innings across these matches. The pitch is likely going to assist the pace bowlers throughout the power play, and we might just see a few early wickets. There have been a few showers around in the last couple of days and the forecast indicates there might be some precipitation around for this match.
This will be the third game at this ground in the CWC. In match three of the CWC Bangladesh chased down Afghanistan’s total of 156 and in match seven England set Bangladesh a whopping 364 runs.
South Africa vs Netherlands predicted XIs
South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi and Tabraiz Shamsi/Gerald Coetzee
Netherlands: Vikramjit Singh, Max O'Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek/Ryan Klein, Aryan Dutt and Paul van Meekeren
Who to play in your GDS starting XI
Batters
The three batters that I am likely going to start will be Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen and Max O'Dowd / David Miller. Over the last ten matches these players average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Temba Bavuma – 71 points
Rassie van der Dussen – 45 points
Max O'Dowd – 40 points
David Miller – 52 points
In GDS there are only five players combined from Netherlands and South Africa that have the batter position designation. Only the above four are predicted to play. Bavuma and van der Dussen are my first two batters picked due to their CWC form. Choosing my third batter is a little more difficult and it really depends which team bats first. Firstly, I believe South Africa will win this match and Netherlands are more likely to require their entire starting XI to bat against the South Africa bowling attack. If Netherlands bat first, I’m going to start O’Dowd as I think he has a greater chance of scoring runs compared to Miller. If South Africa bat first I’m going to start Miller as I believe he is the better batter of the two and is more likely to spend time at the crease if South Africa bat first. He may not even be required to bat if Netherlands bat first and are unable to set South Africa a substantial target.
All-Rounders
The four all-rounders that I am likely going to start will be Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Colin Ackermann and Bas de Leede. Over the last ten matches these players average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Aiden Markram – 117 points
Marco Jansen – 102 points
Colin Ackermann – 77 points
Bas de Leede – 125 points
The way all the above have been playing, they are auto picks for me in this match as they all average more than 90 points in GDS for the CWC. Markram has been outstanding with the bat. Jansen, Ackermann and de Leede have all had handy knocks with the bat and usually bowl 7+ overs a match. Jansen is the only all-rounder of these four that bats outside the top four for their respective teams.
If you don’t have the suggested four players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining all-rounders for Netherlands and South Africa in the following order. Vikram Singh, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Teja Nidamanuru and Sybrand Engelbrecht.
Bowlers
The three bowlers that I am likely going to start will be Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj and Lungi Ngidi. Over the last ten matches these players average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Kagiso Rabada – 81 points
Keshav Maharaj – 69 points
Lungi Ngidi – 68 points
South Africa’s bowlers have been outstanding so far in the CWC with Rababa and Ngidi spearheading their bowling attack. With Netherlands struggling with the bat at the top of the innings, I think one if not both bowlers may be able to pick up early wickets. Maharaj usually comes in at first change and has picked up two wickets in each game, bowling the full ten overs on both occasions. At the end of the day it comes down to who is included in the starting XI and which team bowlers first or second. I think the Dutch bowlers have a higher variance in fantasy points scored and find these three bowlers from South Africa more consistent. Look at the England innings at this ground the other day, they were 266/1 at one stage and I think it’s more likely that the South African batters can replicate this and not the Dutch.
If you don’t have the suggested three players in your squad, I have ranked the remaining bowlers for Netherlands and South Africa in the following order. Tabraiz Shamsi/Gerald Coetzee, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren and Ryan Klein.
Wicket Keeper
The wicket keeper that I am likely going to start will be Quinton de Kock. Over the last ten matches the wicket keepers from these teams average the following points based on the GDS scoring.
Quinton de Kock – 79 points
Scott Edwards – 58 points
Heinrich Klaasen – 74 points
Quinton de Kock has been in outstanding form in the CWC so far and has scored back-to-back centuries. With him opening the batting for South Africa, he is a must start for me in the match.