T20 World Cup: How South Africa-born Dutch players combined to humiliate Proteas | Cricket News

Diego Costa, Pepe, Thiago Motta – all these champion footballers have one thing in common. They were born in one country, even represented their native country on the international stage, but later changed their nationality to play international football and helped their respective teams win against their native country.
Costa is Brazilian by birth but is more famous for playing for Spain at the international stage. Pepe is again Brazilian by birth but has represented Portugal internationally, and Motta, another Brazilian born, even played for the ‘Selecao’ at the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup, but it is Italy for which he earned his name.
On Sunday, Stephan Myburgh, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe and Brandon Glover – all South African born cricketers – joined forces with seven other Dutchmen to defeat the Proteas in the T20 World Cup.

Stephan Myburgh (Born: Pretoria, South Africa): The 38-year-old explosive opening batsman joined the Northerns – a South African premiership team – along with Heino KuhnAlviro Petersen and Neil Wagner, who now represents New Zealand in Test cricket. He still holds the record for the second fastest half-century (17 balls) in T20 World Cup tournaments – a record he achieved in Sylhet in 2014 against Ireland.
Colin Ackermann (born: George, South Africa): Ackermann was rated as one of the best young batsmen in red-ball cricket when he played for the Eastern Province. He played for the South African U-19 and achieved top-class averages in the 2016-17 season. He later took the Kolpak route after not being selected for the South African national team.
Roelof van der Merve (Born: Johannesburg, South Africa): Van der Merwe not only represented South Africa U-19, but also played for the senior national team, even at the T20 World Cups of the past. Van der Merwe played for South Africa in the 2004 U-19 World Cup before making his first-class debut for Northerns in 2006. In the 2007-08 season, he topped the wicket-taking chart in franchise cricket for Titans. He marked his T20I debut against Australia in 2009. In 2015 he obtained a Dutch passport to forge a new career in the Netherlands.

Brandon Glover (born: Johannesburg, South Africa): Glover also played for the South African U-19 team. Glover, known for clocking speeds over and above the 140km/h mark, left SA after a call from Dutch coach Ryan Campbell, who convinced him to put his Dutch passport to good use after he have completed an accounting degree.
All four had a big impact on Sunday’s showdown against South Africa. Myburgh smashed 7 boundaries during the Powerplay and helped the Dutch score 48 runs in the first six overs. Ackermann gave the innings the final flourish, hitting an unbeaten 41 off 26 balls. Van der Merwe contributed significantly by holding a brilliant catch, sprinting back from short fine leg to track down a skier to see off the back of the in-form David Miller. Glover’s three wickets in two overs was perhaps the most impactful performance of the day.