Netherlands and South Africa have a history that goes back 374 years from the time the Dutch East India Company arrived in the Cape. They have a cricketing history of just 30 years old after their men's teams first played against each other in the 1996 ODI World Cup and a cricketing rivalry of just under four years old.
Who can forget that it was Netherlands who knocked South Africa out of the 2022 men's T20 World Cup and then threatened to derail their campaign in the ODI World Cup that followed a year later. At least now, they also have a cricketing similarity. Her name is Caroline de Lange.
You don't even have to look that closely to see the resemblance between her action and South Africa's left-arm wristspinner Paul Adams'. Popularly known as the frog-in-a-blender because it entails contorting one's head under the delivery arm in such a way that they don't see where the ball has pitched, people in South Africa spotted it immediately Netherlands played their first match at this tournament and were intrigued.
"Everyone was saying there's Dutch gogga here," Adams told Cricinfo, referring to his nickname, which means insect or, more specifically, a creepy-crawly. "It's quite cool, always good to see different bowling action and she has got good control."
For her part, de Lange "didn't know him until people told her that she bowls like him", Babette de Leede said at the pre-match press conference. But the method clearly works.
De Lange is Netherlands' leading wicket-taker at the tournament, with six to her name, and has their lowest economy rate and de Leede thinks she could be a not-so-secret weapon for them against South Africa. "It's really good to have two legspinners in the side, especially compared to other teams, " she said. "One of them is South Africa, they don't have any legspinners, so that could be a real advantage to us."
Particularly because South Africa's batting has been described as "scratchy" by coach Mandla Mashimbyi. South Africa were bowled out for their lowest total against Australia in a T20I, 107, to lose their opener by 64 runs, then took 16.5 overs and lost eight wickets chasing 127 against Pakistan and were 25 for 2 in the powerplay against India, in a match they eventually won thanks to a 97-run partnership between Marizanne Kapp and Tazmin Brits.
Perhaps that's why Mashimbyi was in no mood to see the lighter side of his team coming up against an Adams' clone of sorts and played with a straight bat when asked about her. "After she has released the ball, the action doesn't matter anymore. That's why it's important that our players just watch the ball," he said. "People will come with different actions, but the most important thing is that you really watch the ball throughout and you play it on merit. If we do that, we give ourselves the best chance to do well against those types of bowlers."
But de Lange is a threat and one South Africa have to be wary of as they go in search of big wins to attempt to secure a semi-final spot. For all his playing down of situations, Mashimbyi knows the permutations.
Not only do South Africa need to win both matches but if India beat Bangladesh earlier on Thursday and Australia on Sunday, the group will be decided on net run rate. South Africa's is currently lower than Australia's and India's. "As a coach, I've obviously done my research around that and what we need, what we need to do. We need to just make sure that we create a good platform to put ourselves in a position where we can say this is what we're chasing and this is how we're going to chase it. But that's not our prime focus. Our prime focus is to make sure that we get a W."
Luckily for him, the line-up has some experience against someone like de Lange. "Some of them faced me in the nets," Adams said, referring to the time he spent with the South Africa women's team at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the UAE. "I'm sure it will remind them of my action. I'm sure it will be good. They did really well against India and I am really happy for them. I'm excited to see how close it is going to get towards the end."
The semi-finalists will only be confirmed on the final day of group matches when South Africa play Bangladesh and India take on Australia at Lord's.