Proteas won’t underestimate the Netherlands at Cricket World Cup, says Temba Bavuma

Proteas captain Temba Bavuma has stressed that his team will not be underestimating the Netherlands in today’s ICC Cricket World Cup clash in Dharamsala.

Bavuma’s team have been in sublime form in their opening two World Cup matches, despatching both former champions Sri Lanka and Australia by crushing margins.

But despite the Netherlands being the last team to qualify for this World Cup, and losing both their matches against Pakistan and New Zealand, Bavuma has every reason to be wary of the Dutch.

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The Orange Army stunned the Proteas in last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia when they recorded a shock victory at the Adelaide Oval to send Bavuma’s team crashing out.

“We definitely won’t be taking them lightly,” he said. “We know that their side will prepare with proper attention to detail and they’ll cover their bases. So, we’ve got to make sure that we do the same thing, we must make sure that we pitch up, there’s no expectation that things are just going to happen our way.”

The Proteas have played the Dutch since the Adelaide shocker when they beat them in the final two ODIs of the home summer to secure qualification for this World Cup in India.

Bavuma feels those experiences, along with the change of format, should work in the Proteas’ favour today in Dharamsala.

“That was a T20 World Cup last year, so it’s a 50-over World Cup now, different format, different ask in terms of your skills, being able to do your skills for a longer period of time. I think that’s something that I think we all need to appreciate.

“We played them in South Africa and I think our victories there were emphatic, in my view. So, I think in terms of the confidence and belief within the team, without us being arrogant or loud about it, I think it’s still up there.

“We still respect opposition, not just Netherlands but any opposition that you come up against at international level. But we’ll be coming up, we’ll be coming into the game with the same mindset that we had against Sri Lanka and that we had against Australia.”

Squads for Dharamsala:

Proteas:

Temba Bavuma (capt), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Andile Phelukwayo Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.

The Netherlands:

Scott Edwards (capt), Max O'Dowd, Bas de Leede, Vikram Singh, Teja Nidamanuru, Paul van Meekeren, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Ryan Klein, Wesley Barresi, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmad, Sybrand Engelbrecht.*