T20 WC: Late flourish from Ackermann propels Netherlands to 158/4 against SA

Adelaide [Australia], November 6 (ANI): A late flourish from Colin Ackermann and Tom Cooper helped the Netherlands reach a total of 158/4 against South Africa in its last Super-12 encounter at the Adelaide Oval in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
Ackermann top-scored for the Dutch with an explosive unbeaten 41 from 26 balls. Experienced Tom Cooper also made a vital contribution of 35 runs from 19 balls. Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj took two wickets for the Proteas.
Put into bat, Netherlands were off to a brilliant start scoring 17 runs in the first 2 overs with Stephan Myburgh being the aggressive one. Max ODowd looked to push the ball into the gaps and play second fiddle to his partner.
The openers struck a total of eight elegant boundaries in the first six overs taking their team to 48 runs without any loss at the end of the powerplay, making it their best powerplay score in this tournament.
Just when the Netherlands looked on the path to getting to a good score, Aiden Markram dismissed Myburgh in the ninth over to give his team the first breakthrough.
Right-hander Cooper attacked the bowlers from the word go and smacked a six early in his inning. The aggression rubbed off on ODowd and he too slammed a six seeing his partner go after the bowlers. The Dutch team finished at 70/1 at the end of 10 overs.
Left-arm finger spinner Maharaj was hit for a six in the 13th over but scalped the wicket of ODowd to bring Ackermann to the crease. The bowler also dismissed Cooper in the 15th over to bring two new batters to the crease for the last five overs.
Pacer Anrich Nortje sent back Bas de Leede in the 18th over, ending his scratchy inning where inn he scored just one run off seven balls.
Thanks to Ackermann’s late blitz, the Netherlands managed to score 31 runs off the last two overs helping the team reach 158/4 in 20 overs.
Brief Score: Netherlands 158/4 (Colin Ackermann 41, Tom Cooper 35; Keshav Maharaj 2-27) vs South Africa (ANI)