Ahsan Malik’s five-for helps Netherlands keep South Africa to 145/9 in ICC World T20 2014 tie at Chittagong
Netherlands keep South Africa to 145/9
By Devarchit Varma
Mar 27, 2014
Ahsan Malik registered five-wicket haul to lead Netherlands‘ fight back, as they restricted South Africa to 145 for nine in their ICC World T20 2014 Group 1 match, at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Thursday.
Asked to bat first, South Africa squandered a rollicking start as they slipped from 75 for two from eight overs to 145 for nine in the 21st match of the T20 World Cup tournament.
Malik was the star performer for the Netherlands as he returned with the figures of 4-0-19-5. This performance is the best by any Associate member bowler against a full member nation in Twenty20 Internationals.
South Africa suffered an early blow in form of Quinton de Kock, who was caught by Stephan Myburgh off Michael Swart. De Kock went for a slog on the fifth ball of the over, but was caught at the square leg fielder who was standing close.
Hashim Amla provided South Africa some much-needed momentum when he smashed a six and four boundaries to collect as many as 23 runs off Swart in the third over of the game. The right-handed opening batsman looked in terrific form as he took the attack to the opposition, slamming Netherlands bowler Timm van der Gugten for a boundary in the next.
South Africa looked close to cross the 50-run mark in the fifth over of the match, but Malik got Amla caught behind the wickets by Wesley Barresi for 43. Amla faced 22 balls during his stay at the crease and hit seven boundaries and a six.
Amla’s dismissal brought AB de Villiers at the crease, as the two batsmen took the South African innings forward. Though they were not as aggressive as Amla, but both de Villiers and du Plessis ensured their side remains on top against the Netherlands. They rotated the strike with ease and also went for their shots to maintain a healthy scoring rate.
However, their dismissals in quick succession pegged back South Africa. In the ninth over, du Plessis slammed Tom Cooper for a six over long-off, but on the next ball he was caught in the deep. In the 11th over, de Villiers fell as he mistimed one shot off Logan van Beek, and was caught by Ben Cooper. De Villiers fell after scoring 21 off as many balls.
South Africa slipped further when Albie Morkel was caught behind the wickets for five, in the 13th over of the innings off Malik.
JP Duminy too failed to make an impact when his innings was ended by van der Gugten for 12, in the 16th over. The tailenders too failed to make a mark, as South Africa failed to get past even the 150-run mark.
Brief scores:
South Africa 145 for 9 in 20 overs (Hashim Amla 43, Faf du Plessis 24, AB de Villiers 21; Ahsan Malik 5 for 19) vs Netherlands
ICC World T20 2014 schedule: Match time table with venue details
ICC World T20 2014 Points Table and Team Standings
(Devarchit Varma is reporter with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)