Once a South Africa player, now Proteas' chief tormentor at World Cup: Story of Roelof Van der Merwe

The Netherlands pulled off what will possibly go down in history as the biggest upset in World Cup history when they defeated South Africa by 38 runs in a rain-interrupted match in Dharamsala. Coming on to bat first, the Netherlands scored 245 runs in a 43-overs-per-side match and South Africa goy all-out for 207 runs during their chase.

3 things you need to know

• The Netherlands were 140/7 at on point during their innings
• Scott Edwards top-scored for the Netherlands
• Roelof van der Merwe bagged 2 wickets in this match

Roelof van der Merwe comes back to haunt South Africa

Left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe is one of the most experienced cricketers in the current Netherlands squad. He was born in 1984 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Van der Merwe represented the Proteas in 13 ODIs and as many T20Is. However, he shifted his base to the Netherlands and obtained citizenship due to a lack of opportunity in the South African setup. Roelof van der Merwe debuted for the Dutch in a T20I against Nepal in 2015. By doing so, he became only the fifth player in history to represent two countries in T20I cricket. Roelof van der Merwe did not feature during the Netherlands's qualifying matches but made a comeback in the marquee event. 

READ: ODI World Cup 2023 Updated Points Table: India remain firm on top after South Africa choke again

Roelof van der Merwe dents South Africa with top performance

During Netherlands's victory over South Africa, Roelof van der Merwe had a big part to play as he played a cameo of 29 runs in 19 deliveries and dismissed skipper Temba Bavuma and Rassie van der Dussen in back-to-back overs and gave away just 34 runs during his nine-over spell.

Netherlands will play their next match of the ICC ODI World Cup against Sri Lanka on 21st October and this match will take place in Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.