Dutch enough: Proteas draw the line against Netherlands
Eyes on the prize: Heinrich Klaasen. Picture: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Proteas middle order batsman Heinrich Klaasen says South Africa have an appeltjie to skil with Netherlands in the Big Apple tomorrow at 4.30pm.
The reason for this is that it was the Dutch that ended South Africa’s dream at the last T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022 when they beat the Proteas by 13 runs to prevent SA from getting out of their group.
Klaasen and his teammates then had a shot at redemption at last year’s 50-over World Cup in India and wragtiewaar lost again - this time by 38 runs.
But that’s enough now according to Klaasen, who says: “We definitely want to get back [at them after the] couple games [they beat us]. “Netherlands played good cricket against us.”
As they gear up for their second Group D match - SA beat Sri Lanka and the Dutch klapped Nepal in their openers - a lot of the talk heading into the match is about the pitch at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
With batsmen not scoring as freely as they did in the recent India Premier League, there has been some unhappy noise made about the state of pitches.
Of what to expect, Klaasen says: “Having played the previous game against Sri Lanka at the same ground, it gives us an indication of what we can expect. The other tricky part [apart from the wickets being bowler-friendly] is the ball doesn’t travel on the outfield.
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“So it might not be a wicket where you tee off and hit boundaries. You have to play clever cricket and you have to make peace with that.
“Hopefully our bowlers will keep doing what they did against Sri Lanka and use the bowler-friendly wickets.”
Anrich Nortje was on fire against the Lankans, claiming career-best figures of 4/7.
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Weekend’s WC fixtures
Today: Canada v Ireland (4.30pm)
Saturday: New Zealand v Afghanistan (1.30am), Sri Lanka v Bangladesh (2.30am), Netherlands v South Africa (4.30pm), Australia v England (7pm).
Sunday: West Indies v Uganda (2.30am), India v Pakistan (4.30pm), Oman v Scotland (7pm).