The Proteas and the Netherlands will lock-horns on Tuesday at the ICC Cricket World Cup in India.

The Proteas will seek to record their third win on the bounce and they are confident, while the Netherlands are looking for a first win.

While the Dutch haven’t chalked up a win yet, they did push the world’s top ranked team, Pakistan, hard in their first game of the tournament.

The last time the Dutch faced the Proteas at the World Cup, they sent South Africa packing from the T20 World Cup in Australia a year ago.

The Dutch assistant coach, Ryan Cook, who is also the son of the legendary South African batter, Jimmy Cook, said they pride themselves on 50-overs cricket.

“I think the 50-over format is something that we try and pride ourselves on,” said Cook.

“It's a game that we play a lot of, we don't get to play any Test cricket or anything like that. So, we play a lot of 50-over cricket and we understand the consistency that needs to come with playing good 50-over cricket for long periods of time.

“South Africa has a really good one-day side as well and a T20 team and we just know that if we can go and play good cricket there tomorrow for a long period, we will be able to be competitive.”

Cook’s brother, Stephen Cook, also played for South Africa as an opening batter.

Roelof van der Merwe - Cricinfo

The Dutch do have a very strong South African connection, with arguably the biggest being the former Proteas allrounder, Roelof van der Merwe. Van der Merwe is certainly a fiery little character and he will once again want to prove himself against his former team.

Cook added that players such as Van der Merwe add a lot of value to their team.

“We've got a couple of guys with South African origin in our team with Roelof and Colin Ackermann and a couple of guys from the coaching staff as well so we do know a lot of the players quite personally and professionally as well.

“Having done a lot of work with them in different teams that we've been involved in so yeah, we get to know a little bit more about the players and what makes them tick and obviously we'll be using that to try and you know see if there's any advantage that we can use.

“I think Roelof’s energy out there speaks for itself you know he's got a great passion for the game he obviously gives his full hundred percent and wears his heart on his sleeve for the team that he's playing for.

“I have no doubt that he'll be out there tomorrow and, you know, putting his best foot forward and giving 100% to the team.”

Some of the other South African's in the Dutch team include Sybrand Engelbrecht and Ryan Klein.

Play in Dharamshala is scheduled to start at 10:30.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport