Edwards leads from front as Netherlands nail their big moment،
You can’t choose how you win a game of cricket, whatever the seismic outcome. The Netherlands knows this.
A maiden victory in any format against South Africa in last year’s T20 World Cup was confirmed when Anrich Nortje flayed the last ball of a sloppy chase to get deep extra cover for four. That doesn’t take away from the achievement, but such moments deserve to be shown on screen for the winners, not footage of a lone ball on a pointless journey through forgettable billboards.
Fortunately, their second against the same opponents – a maiden ODI World Cup victory against a Test nation – made amends. A succession of aerial shots landing in no-man’s land suggested the Dutch could be facing another little-known highlight. Until Logan van Beek hit a short one to Keshav Maharaj and Scott Edwards took the resulting catch. South Africa were eliminated, 39 points short of their target. And the Netherlands was, rightly, the center of attention.
This dismissal will accompany the replays of Ryan ten Doeschate and Edgar Schiferli running this second heat after Stuart Broad’s missed race. Just like those two, van Beek and Edwards cemented their place in history.
Their contributions make them all the more worthy of sharing this latest infusion of cash. After missing the game against his native New Zealand with a hamstring injury, van Beek’s 3-for-60 was essentially a series of extremely meaningful moments. Destroyer Heinrich Klaasen was caught behind a corner, at deep fine leg, before a trimmer hit David Miller’s stump – the moment Netherlands went from ‘believing’ to know”.
It was Edwards, however, who led them to “believe” and facilitated “knowing” from a place of despair. South Africa won the toss, elected to bowl first and were on the verge of victory in the 21st over when the Netherlands captain arrived at the crease with a scoreboard reading 82 for 5. He finished unbeaten on 78, taking his charges to one score. of 245 for 8 with vital help from Roelof van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt. He then nailed every tactical call behind the stumps to cap off a remarkable night in Dharamsala.
Edwards’ teammates will tell you he leads from the front. “One of those guys you just want to follow,” is how Van Beek put it earlier this month. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that someone who has flirted with an electrical apprenticeship is a skilled conductor.
The stats show it too: averaging 48.12 since becoming captain in 2022 following Pieter Seelaar’s retirement, and he guided the Dutch through qualifying for this tournament earlier this year with 314 points to 62 .80.
We still wondered to what extent we could take the advantage of No. 7, especially after having called on the crew to be more aware after the successive failures at the start of the competition. A “free role” saw Edwards assume every place from opener to number 8. With van Beek returning to the XI, he made the decision to drop to seven in his 38th ODI innings, which appeared to be a waste of his talents. . And then all of a sudden, the Netherlands were five down. Maybe he knew it all along.
The act of rescue was as calculated as it was calm, and largely based on pride at first. His third sweep off Keshav Maharaj – one of seven boundaries hit down the leg side – took him to 25 and, more importantly, beyond Extras (24) as the top scorer in the era. It was both a summation of South Africa’s dominance with the ball and a nod to their error-strewn final to come.
Born in Tonga and raised in Australia, Edwards grew up idolizing Adam Gilchrist. Beyond the wicket, there isn’t much in common between the two. Edwards loves sweeps and seems too polite to whisper a few words in a hitter’s ear. But the acceleration when he sensed South Africa were losing their way, signaled by the smashing of a short delivery outside Kagiso Rabada’s off-stump into square leg with disdain, was an assertion of dominance in the manner of Gilchrist.
He has a long way to go if he is to replicate the confidence of the great Australian. Stands of 64 with van der Merwe and 41 with Dutt yielded 105 from the final nine overs, although Edwards was reluctant to take credit, even though he held the player of the match award. He praised van der Merwe’s strikes from unusual areas, then thought Dutt’s six-heavy 23 meant his role in the stand was minimal: “It was quite easy for me – I just got him hit .”
The strings pulled on the field were of equal importance against a batting line-up that had already shown itself to be feared. The reduction to 43 innings due to morning rain required recalibration, given that only three bowlers could bowl nine overs (two at most eight) with the threat of dew in the second half. So he recalibrated.
Edwards opted for seven overs of spin in the revamped nine-over powerplay in a bid to restrict the scoring of openers Quinton de Kock and Temba Bavuma by slowing the ball down. Not only did this restrict South Africa to 39 with just two men in the outfield, but de Kock’s bonus wicket – pocketed by Edwards – came with the last ball of Colin Ackermann’s three overs in the off-side spin.
Once the field came out, the seamers played a more complete role with a straighter attacking line, using the variable bounce evident in the first innings but not used so much. Edwards had clearly taken mental notes as he batted, and along with those written on a piece of paper stored in Max O’Dowd’s pocket, it gave the Dutch a palpable sense of control that they had not relinquished.
They were more disciplined overall – eight extras in South Africa’s final tally of 32 – more willing on the field and braver in their approach. All character traits embodied by Edwards, although he would continue to praise others in his other media engagements.
As it happens, the three catches took him to 50 ODI dismissals, breaking the previous Dutch record of 48 held by Jeroen Smits. It was an extra and deserved feather in the cap of a skipper who had not only overseen Netherlands’ third – and best – victory in an ODI World Cup, but also given them reason to believe that they could go further in the competition, knock down some. other great actors and add a few more clips to this highlights reel.
