An eight-wicket victory with 20 Overs to spare during the first ODI, has put the South Africans 1-0 ahead in the three-match ODI series against the Netherlands, as the former are playing with a full strength squad in order to directly qualify for the ODI World Cup in India later this year.
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With just one win away from all but directly qualifying for the tournament, the Proteas will take the Dutch on in the final ODI on Sunday, at The Wanderers in Johannesburg.
Half-centuries off the bats of skipper Temba Bavuma (90* off 79) and Aiden Markram (51* off 39) made sure South Africa faced no scary hiccups as they chased down the target of 190 runs handed by the Dutch with consummate ease.
An understrength Netherlands were just no match for the star-studded South African side, and one can expect the result to be no different during the third ODI either.
The Wanderers Stadium Pitch Report for SA vs NED 3rd ODI
The last match hosted by The Wanderers was the series deciding final T20I between South Africa and West Indies on March 28. The pitch was an absolute belter for the batters, as both the teams collectively posted 433 runs off 40 Overs, with the Windies ultimately winning the contest by 7 runs.
The venue has hosted mere three ODIs since February 2020, but has conducted seven complete T20 matches this year. It has been a high-scoring one for the batters, with an average score of 167.4 across these T20 matches.
The fast bowlers will be able to extract significant purchase on the fresh pitch at The Wanderers on Sunday, especially with the new ball. Four pacers in fact, are in the list of top-5 leading wicket-takers at this venue in T20s this year.
All in all, the strong Proteas batting line-up can really pile on truckload of runs on this surface tomorrow in they bat first.
How can South Africa qualify directly for ODI World Cup 2023?
A win for South Africa tomorrow will take them to 98 ODI Super League points, placing them ahead of West Indies (88 points) at the eighth spot.
Only Ireland would then have a scope to then level them on 98 points, provided they clean sweep Bangladesh 3-0 in the ODI series at England in June.
The eighth, which will also be the last team to directly qualify for the World Cup, would be then decided by the Net Run Rate.
However, it would not be easy for the Irish side to get past a relatively stronger Bangladeshi side across all the three ODIs, which definitely makes the Proteas a bit much more optimistic than them.
