Netherlands - South Africa Predictions & Betting tips - ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Prediction published on 06/06/2024, 06:58  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 06/06/2024 at 08:13

The Netherlands and South Africa will lock horns in match 16 of the ICC T20 World Cup on Saturday afternoon. Both sides managed to win their opening match of the competition, though the Netherlands are in second place in the group owing to their inferior net run rate. The Flying Dutchmen made a positive start to the tournament, notching up an opening-round victory over newcomers Nepal last Tuesday. While it was far from a convincing victory, it was a performance that reminded onlookers about the Dutch side’s resilience, with some of their best players stepping up in a massive way when it counted. Bowling first, Logan van Beek and Tim Pringle did the bulk of the damage, taking three wickets each to bowl Nepal out for just 106 runs on a difficult batting pitch. Despite losing early wickets themselves, Max O’Dowd put the team on his back and carried them to a six-wicket victory with a workman-like 54(48). However, the real test starts now for the Flying Dutchmen, and the bookies make them clear outsiders in this one. 

Meanwhile, South Africa made an impressive start to their T20 World Cup campaign and have taken the early lead in the group with a healthy +1.048 net run rate. That came courtesy of a six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka on a wicket that heavily favoured the bowlers. The Proteas pace attack proved to be the difference in the match, with Anrich Nortje notching up his best-ever T20 international bowling figures of 4/7 in his four-over allotment. Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj also made significant contributions taking 2/21 and 2/22, respectively. South Africa’s top order struggled to find their rhythm and were knocked over cheaply, but chasing down a mere 77-run target never seemed in doubt, and Heinrich Klaasen, together with David Miller, steered the side to the win with 22 balls to spare. Indeed, the Proteas are massive favourites here, but they will know all too well not to underestimate this opponent, who sprung a shock victory over them in the 2022 edition of this competition.