PremiumNetherlands' Paul Van Meekeren's old tweet as a food delivery boy resurfaces after South Africa humble
The endearing reminder that he has endured all the hardships to get to the point that he is in now, winning pivotal games for his nation, has won the hearts of netizens.
Last Updated: 01.28 AM, Oct 18, 2023
South Africa have done it again and just when the pundits, the naysayers and all the cricket aficionados were starting to feel that Temba Bavuma's side was here to win, a shocker awaited them. Well, considering how things panned out nearly a year ago in Adelaide, Australia, 'shocker' seems a bit of a stretch at this point in time.
For the unversed, Netherlands clashed with South Africa at Dharamsala in the 15th match of the World Cup 2023 and while on paper, the latter seemed the heavyweight, the Dutch revealed they had different plans in mind. Having been put into bat, the Netherlands scored a gritty 245 at the loss of 8 wickets in their quota of 43 overs (reduced due to rain). In reply, South Africa crumbled like an old cookie and were playing a long catchup before they could even realize it, ultimately folding their chase at 207 all-out.
Paul van Meekeren's endearing tweet resurfaces
Of course, the Netherlands were privileged to have not one multiple contributions to make it a bona fide team effort. In the first innings, the tail-enders brought the team out of big trouble to recover impressively from 140 for 7 to 245 for 8. Captain and wicket-keeper Scott Edwards was the top scorer with a supremely empowering 78 out of 69 balls, with the "bulldog" Roelof van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt pitching in with their quick-fire knocks.
The bowling unit for the Netherlands saw Logan van Beek pick up 3 crucial wickets for 60 runs with van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren and Bas de Leede taking two scalps each. For van Meekeren, though, the occasion can be easily described as momentous and special considering not very long ago, he was working as a delivery boy for Uber Eats to make ends meet.
And fittingly, the tweet that the fast bowler shared back in 2020 during the lockdown has now resurfaced on social media. The endearing reminder that he has endured all the hardships to get to the point that he is in now, winning pivotal games for his nation, has won the hearts of netizens.
World Cup 2023 remains wide open
What Paul van Meekeren and the Netherlands' inspired performance does is, in turn, it throws the ongoing men's World Cup 2023 wide open. South Africa were cruising along with two back-to-back wins but the latest defeat has now caused them to be on their toes for the remainder of the tournament. England's loss to Afghanistan has cast similar doubts among Jos Buttler and his men, with Pat Cummins' Australia, too, in a spot of bother.
Australia will next play against Pakistan on Friday, October 21, with hosts India clashing with Bangladesh the day before in Pune.