Match abandoned South Africa 277 for 7 (Verreynne 92, Phehlukwayo 48, Klaassen 2-45) vs Netherlands 11 for 0
With uncertainty over whether Netherlands will play their remaining two ODIs in South Africa, even the result of the first could not be decided. Heavy rain washed out the afternoon's play with only two overs possible in Netherlands' chase of 278. That means points have been shared five apiece from this fixture, which puts Netherlands on an equal footing with Zimbabwe in joint-last place on the Super League table and keeps South Africa in ninth position, just outside the automatic qualification zone for the 2023 World Cup.
A decision on whether the rest of the series will go ahead as planned will be taken in the next 24 to 48 hours. It is understood that the tour was on the verge of being called off but the Dutch had difficulty securing a flight home and are likely to remain in South Africa for a few days yet. It is now up to the board and players to decide if they are in the right frame of mind for competitive cricket.
With knowledge of the new variant and potential restrictions known since Thursday evening, both sides appeared in the mood to play. Netherlands had South Africa in a strangle for all but the last three overs of the innings and though they have never beaten a top-eight team when they have chased, they were denied the opportunity to change that by the weather. South Africa's batting was sluggish for the most part but they might have felt they had enough on the board after their strong finish.
Kyle Verreynne fell five runs short of a maiden ODI century but his innings formed the spine of South Africa's 277 for 7. The hosts' run-rate hovered below five until the 47th over when Andile Phehlukwayo served up a reminder of his finishing skills with a 22-ball 48. Netherlands bowled well as a collective and put on a display of sharp fielding and limited South Africa to only two partnerships of substance.
Phehlukwayo and Keshav Maharaj put on 68 off 37 balls for the eighth wicket after Verreynne and debutant Zubayr Hamza shared a 119-run third wicket stand to lead the recovery from losing the openers early. Fred Klaasen had Reeza Hendricks caught at short cover, playing too early at a full delivery, and Janneman Malan edged to first slip after walking down the track and attempting to drive a waist-high delivery. South Africa were 24 for 2 after seven overs.
They could have been 66 for 3 in the 15th over when Verreynne threw his bat at a Brandon Glover ball and sent it to Stephan Myburgh at point. The former Titans' player could not hold on to the chance and Verreynne was let off, on 19. He went on to play chancelessly through the rest of his innings, acting as the aggressor to Hamza's anchor. Verreynne brought up fifty first, off 54 balls before Hamza reached his milestone, off 71. They took South Africa to the halfway stage on 124 for 2 and seemed well set to continue but were separated four overs later.
Hamza became Glover's second victim when he skied a short ball to wicketkeeper Scott Edwards bringing South Africa's most experienced batter, David Miller to the crease. He watched while Verreynne was hit on the chest by Timm van der Gugten and then hit Pieter Seelar in the nether regions an over later - the latter required some on-field attention amid many laughs. Netherlands kept Miller fairly quiet and though he threatened with one six, his attempt at a second was well caught by Max O'Dowd in the deep.
Khaya Zondo was unable to make an impact on his return to the national side, playing back to a Roelof van der Merwe delivery only to be bowled. Wayne Parnell could have been out on the next ball, when Netherlands reviewed for an lbw but ball tracking showed umpire's call on leg stump. Parnell did not last too much longer and was dismissed in the same over as Verreynne, giving Vivian Kingma late success.
Having lost four wickets for 30 runs, South Africa did not score a boundary from the end of the 37th over all the way up to the 47th when Maharaj chipped Glover over midwicket. Phehlulwayo was responsible for all but one run of South Africa's most profitable over - the 48th - hitting back-to-back sixes and a four off Kingma. He went on to smash four more sixes and ensured South Africa put on 52 runs off the last three overs to post a competitive total. Still, it is the first time in five meetings against Netherlands that South Africa have not scored over 300.
