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

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

3 things you need to kw

• Nerlands were 140/7 at on point during ir innings
• Scott Edwards top-scored for Nerlands
• 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 most experienced cricketers in current Nerlands squad. He was born in 1984 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Van der Merwe represented Proteas in 13 ODIs and as many T20Is. However, he shifted his base to Nerlands and obtained citizenship due to a lack of opportunity in South African setup. Roelof van der Merwe debuted for Dutch in a T20I against Nepal in 2015. By doing so, he became only fifth player in history to represent two countries in T20I cricket. Roelof van der Merwe did t feature during Nerlands's qualifying matches but made a comeback in 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 Nerlands'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.

Nerlands will play ir next match of 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, Luckw.