We dropped the ball at 112/6: Bavuma rues lack of ruthlessness

At 112/6, the game was well and truly in South Africa’s control. With three wins on the trot, the Proteas would have gained momentum that could have made them unstoppable in the tournament. But then Scott Edwards and Roelef van der Merwe had other plans, and so did the South African bowlers. 

Having bowled with such precision, the South African bowlers turned their attention to slower deliveries, with 26 of the 43 deliveries at the back end being slower ones, which cost them 53 runs. Not just that, the Proteas’ pace unit was also wayward in their bowling at the death, wherein they allowed the Dutch side to score over 100 runs. 

“From 112 for 6, shouldn't have allowed them to go past 200. We dropped the ball there but were still confident with the chase. But they were able to extract some deficiencies in our batting,” South African skipper Temba Bavuma accepted in the post-match presentation. 

South Africa were not just wayward with their lengths but also with their line, allowing 32 extras, the fourth most any side has done in an Indian World Cup. On all previous occasions, the teams which have conceded those extras have gone on to lose their clash, with South Africa joining the party later on in the day. 

Not only did South Africa allow the Oranje to get to 245, but they also lost wickets in a heap while batting - 44/4 - to put themselves under a lot of pressure. From thereon, recovering was a tough gig, with David Miller (43) and Keshav Maharaj (40) making the only contributions. And like that, South Africa lost to the Netherlands for the second World Cup in a row after their loss in the 2021 T20 World Cup, crashed them out of the competition. 

“We were clinical against Australia. We could have controlled the extras. The fielding wasn't up to the standard. It's not the same standard we had against Australia. We need to have some conversations with the boys,” Bavuma added.

“You got to let the emotion to seep in. It will hurt. Our campaign is not over by any stretch of imagination. That was a proper display from them. They (the Netherlands) put us under pressure throughout. Good luck to them."