LIVE Preview, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 vs. Netherlands – ICC World Cup 2011
The crowd in Mohali is probably not going mad over ticket sales as the northern city of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 gets ready to host its first match of the tournament. Thursday’s match between South Africa and the Netherlands does not generate much interest as it comes across
as a one sided affair, one in which the Proteas are expected to comfortably win against their Dutch opponents.
An Unbalanced Equation
The odds are highly in favour of the South Africans and it appears the Netherlands have no chance of pulling off the first upset of the tournament. The Proteas were impressive in their victory in the opening match against the West Indies. The way they
played confirmed their status as one of the front runners for this competition. They have also got an excellent record against the Dutch side in World Cups matches. They have played them twice and each time inflicted heavy defeat.
The Netherlands, with their first match against England, showed that they are not to be taken lightly. However they failed to make an impression in the next outing against the West Indies, in which their performance was not up to the mark. The batting that
clicked in a big way in the first game was the reason for their downfall in the subsequent match. It exposed their reliance on their star batsman, Ryan ten Doeschate and their inability to cope with extreme fast bowling. So the Dutch batsmen will have their
work cut out for them when they come up against the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Morne-Morkel-c77722.
Key Players
The South Africans came into the World Cup knowing that they had quality fast bowlers in their team. The spin department was the one they lacked in but it seems that problem is resolved with the emergence of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 born leg spinner proved
himself as a potential match winner with a four-wicket haul on his debut against the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760. He will continue to be a potent weapon for them in the rest of the tournament. Their formidable batting line-up features some of the most destructive batsmen
in world cricket but going by the recent performances, Hashim Amla stands out for his consistent contributions at the top of the order. If he delivers, like he often does, then he will set an ideal platform for the rest of the batsmen to build on.
The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Cooper-c51561. He will be expected to again negotiate the fast bowling from
the Proteas and make a significant contribution with the bat. The Dutch will also have high hopes from Doeschate to bat through most of the innings. If he bats in the same fashion as he did against England then the Netherlands can challenge the South African
side.
Playing XIs (probable)
South Africa: Graeme Smith (Capt), Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Johan-Botha-c67173, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
Netherlands: Alexei Kervezee, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wesley-Barresi-c96487 (wk), Tom Cooper, Ryan ten Doeschate, Bas Zuiderent, Tom de Grooth, Peter Borren (Capt), Mudassar Bukhari, Pieter Seelaar, Bernard Loots, Berend Westdijk.
Last Word
South Africa will start the day as favourites and most probably emerge as winners by the end of the fifty overs. The conditions are expected to suit fast bowling so this will give them a huge edge over their struggling opponents. Netherlands have a rather
modest bowling attack because of which they won’t be able to make use of the conditions much.
The match does not promise fireworks but a valiant effort from Netherlands can change that and make the match worth watching.
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