The Netherlands weren’t even meant to be at this World Cup. That wasn’t part of the script.

The Dutch outfit qualified for the marquee tournament after beating out three Test nations, including two-time champions the West Indies, in Zimbabwe earlier this year.

Only about 6500 people play cricket in the Netherlands. You can’t find the sport on any of the nation’s free-to-air channels.

The Dutch national side doesn’t have professional full-time contracts, so some players are forced to look for opportunities elsewhere, like in the county circuit. Others have day jobs to keep themselves afloat in the off-season.

The Netherlands were subsequently without their entire frontline attack during the World Cup qualifiers, because the likes of Paul van Meekeren and Colin Ackermann had county commitments.

Despite this, the Netherlands pulled off a miraculous Super Over victory against the West Indies in Harare to book their spot in the World Cup, where they’re competing alongside some of the sport’s powerhouses.

Ahead of their tournament opener against Pakistan, head coach Ryan Cook declared that the Netherlands’ goal was to reach the semi-finals. And on Tuesday evening, that claim didn’t seem beyond belief.

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The Dutch toppled South Africa by 38 runs in Dharamshala, having also defeated the Proteas during last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. It was the Netherlands’ first World Cup win over a Test-playing nation and South Africa’s first ODI loss to an association team.

The Netherlands breathed life back into the World Cup, which had been plagued by one-sided contests in the early rounds — even South African fans couldn’t help but don their caps after Tuesday’s upset.

This is a team that seven years ago didn’t have ODI status.

This is a team that finished bottom of the Super League ladder having won three of their 24 ODIs — and those victories came against Ireland and Zimbabwe.

This is a team that received about $1.8 million from the ICC per year during the previous World Cup cycle. In contrast, Australian captain Pat Cummins’ national contract is worth about $3 million annually.

This is a team that hadn’t played any ODI cricket since June’s World Cup Qualifiers, forcing Cook to send out an SOS to their rivals.

“This is a call-out to anyone who wants to play us,” he declared in a press conference in July.

“We’d love to have a fixture or two. Our guys have not been to the subcontinent many times before, so it would be good to have some fixtures somewhere in the subcontinent as well.”

Earlier this week, when questioned about the dangerous outfield at Dharamsala’s picturesque stadium, Cook claimed it was better than the fields they train on back home.

The Dutch men’s team is packed with players who couldn’t quite crack into the national system in their country of birth. Logan van Beek, for example, represented New Zealand at the 2010 Under-19 World Cup, also playing underage basketball for the Kiwis.

Born in Wellington, the all-rounder patiently waited three years for international eligibility before finally making his Dutch debut at the 2014 T20 World Cup.

Then there’s Dutch captain Scott Edwards, who previously worked as an electrician in Melbourne while playing second XI games for Victoria.

Born in Tonga and raised in Australia, Edwards grew up idolising Adam Gilchrist, and the legendary wicketkeeper’s influence was apparent on Tuesday evening as Edwards smacked 78 off 69 balls and took three catches in a player of the match performance.

And how about Paul van Meekeren, who has represented the Netherlands for over a decade. When the 2020 T20 World Cup was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, van Meekeren made ends meet as an Uber Eats driver.

And don’t forget Sybrand Engelbrecht, who represented South Africa at the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia before retiring from all forms of cricket in December 2016. In early 2021, he was flown to the Netherlands to spearhead a business company’s European expansion, playing recreational cricket on the weekends. He fell back in love with the game, and two years later, he is playing in a World Cup.

Roelof van der Merwe, the oldest player of the tournament, claimed two crucial wickets and scored a gritty 29 against his former national team on Tuesday. The 38-year-old played 12 ODIs and 13 T20Is for South Africa before reviving his cricket dream in Europe.

And lastly, Teja Nidamanuru, an Indian-born cricketer who works an administrative job with the Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Board that enables him to live in the Netherlands on a skilled worker visa. During last week’s World Cup clash against Pakistan in Hyderabad, Nidamanuru’s extended family watched him play cricket for the first time.

This Netherlands outfit has charmed the cricket world with their camaraderie and unbridled enthusiasm. At the end of their pre-season camp in Bengaluru, the squad’s four net bowlers were cheered in unison by the entire playing group as they ran in to bowl their final delivery.

The Dutch players consult pieces of paper during their World Cup matches, reading over handwritten notes about their opponents’ weaknesses and strengths. Vice-captain Max O’Dowd was seen whipping out his cheat sheet during Tuesday’s victory over South Africa.

“We do a fair bit of research,” Edwards said in the post-match press conference.

“We come up with a few match-ups. Some days it works and some days it doesn’t.”

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Last year, Cook banned his team from using the word ‘Associate’ in press conferences, claiming it perpetuates the image that they were weaker than their opponents.

“People often refer to us as cricket minions,” Cook said earlier this week.

“We see ourselves as a cricketing nation that plays in a good style. We compete against the best teams in the world. We’ll be putting everything in.”

The Netherlands will next face Sri Lanka, the other World Cup qualifier, at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium on Saturday, with the first ball scheduled for 4pm AEDT.