After dominating the Netherlands on Sunday through a 146 -run win in Johannesburg , South Africa has increased their chances of advancing directly to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup this year. Aiden Markram led South Africa to an emphatic victory.
Temba Bavuma’s side after winning the 1st ODI by 8-wickets at the Sahara Park enroute South African Captain’s 90 runs off 79 and Aiden Markram’s 51 off 39 deliveries, went on to win the 2nd ODI by 146 runs to whitewash the Dutch by 2-0.
| Rank | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | No result | Points | NRR | Penalty Overs |
| 1 | New Zealand (Q) | 24 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 175 | +0.914 | |
| 2 | England (Q) | 24 | 15 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 155 | +0.976 | |
| 3 | India (hosts) (Q) | 21 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 139 | +0.782 | 1 |
| 4 | Bangladesh (Q) | 21 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 130 | +0.233 | |
| 5 | Pakistan (Q) | 21 | 13 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 130 | +0.108 | |
| 6 | Australia (Q) | 18 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 120 | +0.785 | |
| 7 | Afghanistan (Q) | 15 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 115 | +0.573 | |
| 8 | South Africa | 21 | 9 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 98 | -0.077 | 2 |
| 9 | West Indies | 24 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 88 | -0.738 | 2 |
| 10 | Sri Lanka | 24 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 81 | -0.369 | 4 |
| 11 | Ireland | 21 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 68 | -0.382 | 2 |
| 12 | Zimbabwe | 24 | 6 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 65 | -0.952 | |
| 13 | Netherlands | 24 | 3 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 35 | -1.091 |
It was always going to be an easy fixture for the South Africans as Netherlands are relatively weaker but they had registered a big win over them during the ICC T20 World cup 2022 to deny Bavuma’s side qualification to the Semi-finals.
After losing the toss, the home team batted first as Markram played a man of match winning knock of 175 off 126 and David Miller’s quickfire 91 helped them post a total of 370 and in response the Dutch were folded for 224 and endured a tough loss. The victory handed South Africa a good chance to secure automatic qualification to the ICC Cricket World cup 2023 in India.
There were worries that South Africa would fall short of a top eight finish and be forced into the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in June and July because the top eight teams in the Super League immediately qualify for the 50-over World Cup, which is slated to be held later this year.
With Ireland, who are currently ranked 11th, the only team that can pass them and force the Proteas to earn their World Cup berth the hard way, South Africa is now in a strong position to avoid that journey to the qualifier. In the Super League campaign that will take place in England next month, Ireland still has three matches left against Bangladesh, and a series sweep by the European team in those matches could still send South Africa to the qualifier.
