Daijiworld Media Network

Chittagong, Mar 27 : After a sensational entry into the main draw of the tournament, Netherlands were quickly brought down to earth by Sri Lanka in their first match of the group stage. Peter Borren, their skipper minced no words in criticising the batting, while also offering an apology on behalf of the associate nations. Will the men in orange come up with a better display today? They are up against South Africa in their 2nd match at Chittagong. Dale Steyn's final over against New Zealand made sure that the Proteas did not suffer the igominy of two straight defeats, but with the net run rate likely to be an equation later on, they will like to register a big win today. Toss and team updates in a while.

Netherlands have won the toss and have opted to field

Faf: 'Everyone's fit. A game like the last one takes its toll mentally. We play a team that is dangerous. We have to be on top of our game. I would have probably fielded first as well. We want to put a big score on board and put them under pressure. First, we have to look to win the game. If we get the situation to up the run-rate, we will use it. We realise that this is a big tournament for us. We have one change with Beuran Hendricks coming in for Morne Morkel.'

Borren: 'Yeah I think initially, the first hour or two we were not in a good space. We have had a day off. We want to field first. The dew may come in. It's up and down. We want to show good team effort and fielding first offers a chance. We have seen some high scores in this ground. Obviously, South Africa defended 170. We are going to back the same boys. We have had some discussion about the change of personnel but we cannot change 11 players.'

Myburgh: 'Cricket is a great leveller. We had not played bowlers like Malinga and Mendis so it was tough. Hopefully, we play some better cricket. We also made some poor shot selections. South Africa are a top side and the best in the business, so we will try and put up a better show than we did in the last game.'

Pitch Report: 'The pitch still looks good despite having had a couple of matches played on them. The cracks are beginning to open up, it might crumble as more matches are played on it. There are some dry areas on the pitch, that will make the ball grip and offer more turn for the spinners. It is a still a decent batting surface though.'

Teams:

Netherlands (Playing XI): Stephan Myburgh, Michael Swart, Wesley Barresi(w), Tom Cooper, Peter Borren(c), Ben Cooper, Mudassar Bukhari, Logan van Beek, Pieter Seelaar, Timm van der Gugten, Ahsan Malik

South Africa (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis(c), AB de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Beuran Hendricks, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Match Preview :

Such is the nature of the format, that no game can really be inconsequential when it comes to T20 games. The same holds true for the T20 WC, currently underway in Bangladesh. Thursday is a chance for South Africa to bolster their position, when they take on Netherlands in a Group 1 league game but the Proteas would be aware that they will be foolish to write the Dutch off despite their meek surrender to Sri Lanka in their opening game.

South Africa:

After a dramatic Test series against Australia at home, South Africa found themselves faced with another stiff challenge - the T20 WC in far away Bangladesh, in alien, spin friendly conditions. They got off to a losing start against Sri Lanka, packed with potent spinners but rose to the occasion in their next game against New Zealand, with Dale Steyn producing a sensational last over to seal it for the Africans.

A game against Netherlands, presents Faf du Plessis and his men with a chance to tighten their net run rate and given how easily the Sri Lankans mowed them down, South Africa would be itching to have a go. But funnier things have happened in cricket. Netherlands' own progress into the main round, came at the expense of Ireland, a team more fancied and experienced - South Africa, therefore will not leave things to chance.

The Proteas have a destructive batting line-up, with the likes of Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and du Plessis himself. Add to that the bowling strength, led by Steyn and it is a very dangerous outfit. Logic will tell you to back South Africa all the way Thursday afternoon but who knows what magic the Dutch might come up with.
Key Players:

AB de Villiers has had scores of 24 and 5 so far in the tournament, but there is no doubt how dangerous he can be on his day. Easily the best batsman in the side, de Villiers can turn it on at will as can the likes of Amla and Duminy. Steyn will be lethal with the ball and will be counted upon to rattle the Netherlands batsmen with his blistering pace.
Netherlands:

It was a reality check for the Dutchmen, who had stormed into the main tournament after outclassing Ireland, packed with quality T20 cricketers. Set to make a mammoth 190 in 14 overs to qualify, Netherlands got there with a ball to spare and announced to the world how dangerous they could be. But three days later, up against the class and guile of Sri Lanka's bowlers, the Dutch were blown away to bits.

The same men, who had so heroically taken on the Irish bowlers, were in the eye of a storm against Nuwan Kulasekara, Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga, as the Europeans collapsed to 39 all out in 10.3 overs.

The game against South Africa is by no means an easy proposition but at least that will provide them with a chance to fight them hard and redeem some lost pride. Even a semblance of competitiveness against South Africa could do Netherlands some good in the time to come.
Key Players:

The likes of Borren, Myburgh, Barresi and Cooper are more than capable batsmen in this format and they showed signs of their destruction capabilities in the run riot over Ireland, but they will need to pull up their socks against better teams, laced with better bowlers. How they come back against South Africa after their mauling against Sri Lanka is up to these key men, who will hold Dutch hopes with their bats.
Ground reality:

The game between South Africa and Netherlands will be the 21st match of this tournament and will be played at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chitagong. In the 11 T20Is played at this venue till date, teams batting first have won 5 times while teams chasing have emerged victorious in 6 games.
Stats:

- Dale Steyn, with 52 wickets, is the seventh most successful bowler in T20 Internationals

- JP Duminy, is sixth on the all-time highest scorers in T20 Internationals, with 1280 runs from 52 matches
Quotes:

Steyn proved why he's been the world's best bowler for such a long period of time. As a captain, to have a guy like that in the team anything is possible - South Africa captain Faf du Plessis