In the 15th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, South Africa faced the Netherlands at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala. Aryan Dutt rapidly scored 23 runs from just nine deliveries. South Africa won the toss and chose to field. The Netherlands managed to score 245/8 in a rain-curtailed 43-over match. However, their innings had a great start, with the score at 82/5 after 20.2 overs.
Captain Scott Edwards played a remarkable inning, scoring an unbeaten 78 runs off 69 balls, which included ten fours and a six, helping his team recover from the early troubles. Aryan Dutt, the 20-year-old, played a fantastic short but impactful innings of 23* runs off just nine balls, which helped the Netherlands push their total beyond 240.
Dutt showcased his aggressive batting by hitting three sixes in his innings, particularly taking on the bowlers Lungi Ngidi and Gerald Coetzee. He started by smashing Ngidi for consecutive sixes in two overs and later launched a massive six off Coetzee, sending the ball high into the night sky, and it landed deep in the mid-wicket stands.
You can watch the clip here:
South Africa suffered early wicket losses during their chase
The Netherlands had a challenging start to their innings as their openers, Vikramjit Singh (2 runs off 16 balls) and Max ODowd (18 runs off 25 balls), were dismissed early, resulting in just 24 runs on the scoreboard after 7.1 overs. Subsequently, Bas de Leede (2 runs off 7 balls), Colin Ackerman (13 runs off 25 balls), Sybrand Engelbrecht (19 runs off 37 balls), and Teja Nidamanuru (20 runs off 25 balls) were also dismissed without contributing many runs.
This left their team in a difficult situation at 112/6 after 27 overs. However, some late aggressive batting by their captain, Scott Edwards, Roelof van der Merwe (29 runs off 19 balls), and Aryan Dutt, allowed the Netherlands to reach a total of 245/8.
In the second innings, South Africa had a tough start as they found themselves at 89/5 after 18.5 overs. Temba Bavuma (16 off 31), Quinton de Kock (20 off 22), Heinrich Klaasen (28 off 28), Rassie van der Dussen (4 off 7), and Aiden Markram (1 off 3) were all dismissed early. Roelof van der Merwe took two wickets in his initial six overs while conceding 25 runs.
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