The Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup concludes on Sunday with three matches, the first of which offers South Africa the opportunity to seal a semi final spot when they take on the Netherlands in Adelaide.
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
South Africa v Netherlands, Adelaide
Four teams are sill contention for the 2 semi finals places from Group 2. India, who take on Zimbabwe and South Africa (against Netherlands) have their fate in their own hands as victory for either side sees them through. If they fluff their lines then the outcome of Bangladesh v Pakistan match will determine who goes through and who goes home with number of wins in the group and net run rate coming into play.
Had the Proteas beaten Pakistan a the SCG on Thursday they would already be home and hosed but despite losing early wickets the Pakistan middle order recovered to post 185/9 (Nortje 4/41). Rain and ultimately DLS intervened and South Africa fell 33 runs short of a revised target of 142 in 14 overs.
South Africa were very much the underdogs for last Sunday's clash with India in Perth but after restricting India to 133/9 (Ngidi 4/29, Parnell 3/15) they got up for a 5 wicket win with 2 balls to spare. Markram (52) and Miller (59) helped the Proteas home.
In their second match the Proteas thrashed Bangladesh by 104 runs at the SCG. They posted 205/5 with de Kock (53) and Rossouw (109) doing the damage. Nortje claimed 4 wickets and Shamsi 3 as Bangladesh were bowled out for 101.
The Proteas opening game came against Zimbabwe in Hobart, after a lengthy rain delay the match got underway as a 9 overs per side contest but the rain returned with SA poised for victory and no result was possible.
This was how the Proteas lined up last time out.
Quinton de Kock (wk), Temba Bavuma (c), Rilee Rossouw, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, Tristan Stubbs, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Tabraiz Shamsi
The Netherlands came through the qualifiers, beating UAE and Namibia before losing to Sri Lanka. They started their Super 12 campaign with defeats to Bangladesh (9 runs), India (56 runs) and Pakistan (6 wickets) before a win over Zimbabwe (5 wickets) at this venue on Wednesday.
This was how the Netherlands lined up last time out
Stephan Myburgh, Max ODowd, Tom Cooper, Colin Ackermann, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren, Brandon Glover
Head to Head
The teams have met just once before and South Africa won by 6 runs back in 2014.
The Betting
South Africa are currently trading at around 1/20 to win the game and the Netherlands can be backed at around 7/1
Quinton de Kock is 5/2 to top score for the Proteas and he is 6/1 to be Man of the Match
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
Although we have seen some surprise results this is obviously a terrific opportunity for SA to reach the semi finals and I will go with de Kock and Nortje in the top SA bat and ball markets.
Bets: Top SA Wicket Taker Nortje at 3/1 with Sportingbet
Top SA Scorer de Kock at 5/2 with Sportingbet
Risk Free First Bet Up to R2,000 back if you don't win
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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