Credit: Twitter
The Netherlands proved their qualification to the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 above the likes of West Indies, and Zimbabwe among others as they pulled off a sensational upset against South Africa on Tuesday. Proper team performance by the underdogs, the Netherlands helped them beat the favourites, South Africa by 38 runs. Following their shocking win against the Proteas, an old tweet by Dutch seamer Paul van Meekeren has gone viral on social media.
Also read: South Africa vs Netherlands Stats Review - Check out records broken in this game
The match between South Africa and the Netherlands was delayed due to rain at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala and was reduced to a 43-over-a-side clash. Batting first, the Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards scored an unbeaten knock of 78 runs to help his side reach the target of 246 runs at a loss of eight wickets.
South Africa kept losing wickets in regular intervals and as a result, they fell short by a margin of 38 runs in the end. Meekeren registered a bowling figure of 40 runs off 10 overs with two wickets that included Aisen Markram and Marco Jansen. After the match, the 30-year-old pacer's old "Uber Eats" tweet went viral on social media, where he revealed that he was delivering food following the postponement of the T20 World Cup in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While this was the first win for the Netherlands against South Africa in ODI cricket, the Dutch side defeated the Proteas for the second consecutive time in an ICC event after the T20 World Cup 2022. Also, South Africa became the fifth Test-playing side, including West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, and Zimbabwe to get defeated by the Netherlands in ODI.
