Cricket: Chasing 246 for victory, the South African top order lost 4/8 in a stunning collapse as the Netherlands claimed a famous victory at the World Cup.
An Uber Eats driver, a mechanic and a 38yo ex-Protea: The band of Dutch misfits who pulled off World Cup miracleThe Dutch outfit qualified for the marquee tournament after beating out three Test nations, including two-time champions the West Indies, in Zimbabwe earlier this year.
The Netherlands were subsequently without their entire frontline attack during the World Cup qualifiers, because the likes of Paul van Meekeren and Colin Ackermann had county commitments. The Netherlands breathed life back into the World Cup, which had been plagued by one-sided contests in the early rounds — even South African fans couldn’t help but don their caps after Tuesday’s upset.This is a team that finished bottom of the Super League ladder having won three of their 24 ODIs — and those victories came against Ireland and Zimbabwe.
Earlier this week, when questioned about the dangerous outfield at Dharamsala’s picturesque stadium, Cook claimed it was better than the fields they train on back home.The Dutch men’s team is packed with players who couldn’t quite crack into the national system in their country of birth. Logan van Beek, for example, represented New Zealand at the 2010 Under-19 World Cup, also playing underage basketball for the Kiwis.
And don’t forget Sybrand Engelbrecht, who represented South Africa at the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia before retiring from all forms of cricket in December 2016. In early 2021, he was flown to the Netherlands to spearhead a business company’s European expansion, playing recreational cricket on the weekends. He fell back in love with the game, and two years later, he is playing in a World Cup.