If you’re a member of the Proteas squad, don’t let the Dutch get the better of you. Even though they won’t be playing in the T20 World Cup after Sunday, they would enjoy eliminating a significant opponent before returning home.
At least three members of that team, including Roelof van der Merwe, Colin Ackerman, and Pretoria-born Stephan Myburgh, who doesn’t play as often in South Africa as the other two but has South African origins nevertheless, have the drive to do so.
Van der Merwe, of course, played 13 times for the Proteas from 2009 to 2011, and on his debut in a T20 International against Australia at his home stadium, Centurion, he was named man of the match.
Since changing sides in 2015, he has only played the Proteas once, during the One-Day International at SuperSport Park that was postponed due to rain. The 37-year-old all-arounder still enjoys a good fight and will look forward to playing against his own country in a game that the Proteas must win to get to the semifinals.
Ackerman, who was raised in George and ruled the Warriors franchise club in the “20s,” will experience the same thing. He was selected the Domestic Player of the Year by Cricket SA in 2016/17 because he scored the most runs in the Four-Day tournament.
The Proteas will need to be cautious since the Dutch have played Sri Lanka and Bangladesh close in this year’s tournament, and also because the players wearing orange for South Africa are all seasoned competitors.
At the 2014 World Cup, the sides’ lone encounter was in a Group stage game, when a Proteas squad headed by notable players like Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy, and Dale Steyn battled to a six-run victory in Chattogram. In that game, Myburgh reached a half-century.
The Proteas are under a lot of strain, and it’s certain that Van der Merwe and Ackermann will love bringing it up to them at the Adelaide Oval. The loss to Pakistan on Thursday served as Temba Bavuma’s squad’s wake-up call, and the South African skipper believed that the players’ return to reality helped the team.
The match’s 2 a.m. start time at home may cause many people to be fast asleep when it begins, but the Proteas cannot risk falling asleep throughout the match.