“I think his ODI record is equal to or even in front of Virat Kohli’s.” – Ryan Campbell on Ryan ten Doeschate.
Telford Vice | Cape Town
SOUTH Africans who think their team won’t raise a sweat beating the Netherlands in their men’s ODI series, which starts in Centurion on Friday, would do well to remember what happened the last time these sides faced common opponents in the format.
In June, the Dutch earned a 2-1 series win over Ireland in Utrecht. In July, South Africa couldn’t do better than a 1-1 draw in their rubber against the Irish in Dublin. A washed out match was no doubt a major element in the latter’s outcome, but the fact that Ireland took a game off their heavily favoured visitors should be an alarm.
Unlike the South Africans in Ireland, Goliath didn’t have a chance to avenge his defeat by David. If he had been given that opportunity, would the result be different? What if he wasn’t up against the same David in the rematch?
That said, the Netherlands are vulnerable. They let themselves down at the T20 World Cup in the UAE last month, when they lost to Ireland, Namibia and Sri Lanka and thus shambled home after the first round. They probably didn’t entertain serious hopes of reaching the second stage of the tournament, but they also wouldn’t have expected to be pegged with Papua New Guinea as the only teams to lose all their first-round matches.
Although South Africa didn’t make it to the knockout stage, they performed better than expected. They won four of their five matches and missed out on a place in the semifinals on net runrate. So the smart as well as the not so smart money will be on them to have the better of the Dutch.
Both camps are making do in the face of significant absentees. South Africa have rested Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortjé, Heinrich Klaasen, Wiaan Mulder and Bjorn Fortuin, while Lungi Ngidi and Lizaad Williams have been withdrawn through illness and injury. Ben Cooper, Paul van Meekeren and Tobias Visee pulled out of the Netherlands mix, and Ryan ten Doeschate ended his stellar career at the T20 World Cup.
Happily, ‘Tendo’ has stayed on board as a mentor. The Port Elizabeth-born allrounder was an established figure in South African club and English county cricket long before he appeared for the Netherlands for the first time in an ODI against Sri Lanka at Amstelveen Amsterdam in July 2006 — he made his first-class, list A and T20 debuts for Essex in 2003.
With Bavuma not around, the series offers Keshav Maharaj another chance to burnish the captaincy credentials he unveiled in Sri Lanka in September — where South Africa lost the ODIs 2-1, but swept to a 3-0 victory in the T20Is.
Maharaj won’t want for motivation to get the best out of his players, but it doesn’t hurt that the rubber comes preloaded with World Cup Super League points. South Africa are currently ninth in the standings, so as matters stand not among the sides who will qualify directly for the 2023 World Cup. But a 3-0 win over the Netherlands would catapult them to third place.
When: South Africa v Netherlands, World Cup Super League, 10:00 Local Time.
Where: Centurion (Friday, Sunday); the Wanderers, Johannesburg (Wednesday).
What to expect: No major white-ball cricket has been played at the Highveld’s premier venues this season, but the events of previous summers tell us the pitches will be willing and the outfields fast. Also, the Wanderers outfield is on the small side.
Team news:
South Africa: With Lungi Ngidi out because of Covid-19 and Lizaad Williams removed from the equation by an intercostal muscle strain — and Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortjé rested — the home side’s seam bowling resources are depleted. The recalled Wayne Parnell, the inexperienced Sisanda Magala and Daryn Dupavillon, and the recently drafted Junior Dala will have to carry that load, with help from Andile Phehlukwayo.
Possible XI: Janneman Malan, Ryan Rickelton, Zubayr Hamza, Reeza Hendricks, David Miller, Kyle Verreynne, Dwaine Pretorius, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Keshav Maharaj, Sisanda Magala.
Netherlands: The bad news is that Ben Cooper, Paul van Meekeren and Tobias Visee made themselves unavailable for the tour for undisclosed personal reasons. The good news is that, among them, only Cooper was in the XI that clinched the series in Ireland in June, the last time the Dutch played ODIs.
Possible XI: Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Scott Edwards, Musa Ahmed, Bas de Leede, Pieter Seelaar, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, Timm van der Gugten, Fred Klaassen, Vivian Kingma.
What they said:
“The main thing is to get some gametime and put some performances in, but also to use it as a platform to show what I’m about. It’s also a good opportunity to try and cement my place, if not in the starting XI then as a permanent squad player for the next couple of series.” — Kyle Verreynne hopes to make his mark.
“One of the words that gets thrown around way too much in sport is the world great. But Ryan ten Doeschate will go down as probably the greatest associate cricketer ever to play the game. His numbers for the Dutch stack up against the world’s best. I think his ODI record is equal to or even in front of Virat Kohli’s.” — Ryan Campbell talks up his team’s mentor.
First published by Cricbuzz.
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