South Africa 106 for 6 (Miller 59*, Stubbs 33, Kingma 2-12, van Beek 2-21) beat the Netherlands 103 for 9 (Engelbrecht 40, Baartman 4-11, Nortje 2-19) by four wickets David Miller’s composed half-century buried the ghosts of Dharamsala and Adelaide to prevent a Dutch three-peat in New York. At one point, South Africa were struggling at 12 for 4 chasing 104 to win on a tricky pitch but Miller’s unbeaten 51-ball 59 eventually took them over the line with four wickets and seven balls to spare. Earlier, Sybrand Engelbrecht and Logan van Beek’s 54-run partnership, a Dutch record for the seventh wicket in T20Is, helped the side post 103 for 9 from the depths of 48 for 6 in the 12th over.
Coming into the game, the drop-in pitches in New York had come under intense scrutiny not only for their two-paced nature but a degree of variable bounce bordering towards “dangerous” with Indian and Irish players copping body blows during their game. That prompted the ICC to put out a statement committing to “deliver the best possible surfaces for the remaining matches.” The fresh pitch in use on Saturday had little to suggest the organisers had delivered on their promise to the extent that one of the Dutch players even quipped after the game that the pitches produced back home are of a much superior quality.
Having lost a crucial toss and being inserted to bat, the Dutch batters failed to adapt as much to the surface as the South African fast bowlers, who operated a tight line outsi.
