Watch: Ex-Proteas player Merwe grabs stellar catch running backwards to dismiss Miller

Netherlands scripted an epic victory against T20 heavyweights South Africa in their final Super 12 fixture at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. Batting first, the Netherlands amassed 158 runs at the loss of four wickets and defended the target by 13 runs to end South Africa’s campaign in the tournament. Meanwhile, the match featured an eye-catching moment involving Netherlands cricketer Roelof van der Merwe, which has become a major talking point for the cricket world. 

In the 16th over of South Africa’s innings, Van der Merwe pulled off a gigantic athletic effort that could go on to become the catch of the tournament. As pacer B Glover delivered a short ball in the second delivery of the 16th over, David Miller looked to hit a pull shot but could get only the top edge off his bat. Placed at the short fine leg, Van der Merwe turned around and started running towards the ball before going low and tumbling to his left with his eyes on the ball.

Watch: Van der Merwe runs back to pull off sensational catch

The ball stuck to his hands as he completed the sensational catch and reduced South Africa to 112/5 in their chase. South Africa went on to lose three more wickets in the next four overs while adding around 30 runs to their total. Netherlands restricted the Proteas men to 145/8 in 20 overs and picked up their second victory in the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

Meanwhile, Roelof van der Merwe became a social media trend after ICC shared the video of his epic catch across platforms. The Dutch cricketer’s catch also received reactions from former South African skipper Graeme Smith and Indian cricket pundit Harsha Bhogle. Interestingly, van der Merwe previously played in the T20 World Cup 2009 and 2010 for the South African team.

Graeme Smith and Harsha Bhogle full of praise for Roelof van der Merwe

As per ICC, Graeme Smith took to social media and said, “Van de Merwe’s catch today was one of the best I’ve ever seen. I can’t put into words how difficult it was and he made it look easy. Phenomenal stuff and won the game for the Netherlands”. At the same time, Harsha Bhogle said, “That from Roelof van der Merwe is one of the catches of the tournament."

Netherlands’s win assured South Africa conclude their Super 12 campaign with five points, which meant no other team could surpass India’s tally of six points. The winner of the Pakistan vs Bangladesh match will join India in the semi-final from Group 2. Meanwhile, India will face Zimbabwe in their final Super 12 match in Melbourne from 1:30 PM IST onwards.