Dharamsala: Netherlands wicketkeeper-captain Scott Edwards expressed his delight after the Orange army stunned South Africa by 38 runs in the World Cup 2023 match at the HPCA Stadium, here on Tuesday night.
It is the first time the Netherlands has beaten a Test-playing nation in the ODI World Cup. This was the same Dutch side that knocked Proteas out of the T20 World Cup 2022 and now they have defeated them in a 50-over World Cup convincingly.
Edwards, who won the Player of the Match award for scoring 78 runs off 69 balls with 10 fours and a six, said that the Dutch team isn’t in India to make up the numbers, but to try and perform to the best of their potential.“I think after qualifying we were pretty quick to set our minds to what we wanted to do at this tournament. Yeah, and we weren't coming here just to have fun and enjoy it. We're here to win games of cricket and give ourselves the best chance to make that next stage,” Edwards was quoted as saying in the post-match press conference.
“So, yeah, South Africa is obviously a very strong side and they'll be close to that semi-final spot. So, yeah, if we want to be amongst it, we've got to beat sides like this,” he added.
The Netherlands will lock horns with Sri Lanka in their next game on October 21 in Lucknow.
With inputs from agencies