Born in Tonga, raised in Melbourne and, now, an ODI World Cup hero for The Netherlands in India — it’s been quite the cricketing journey for Scott Edwards.

The 27-year-old captained the Oranje to a stunning 38-run victory over the previously unbeaten South Africa.

He led by example, top scoring with 78 not out before taking three catches behind the stumps.

None of this surprised his former mentor Scott Young, head coach of the Richmond Cricket Club, in Melbourne.

“We’re constantly proud of what Scott’s achieving and he does it in a really humble way, he’s probably the most under-rated cricketer in the world,” Young told ABC Sport.

Young first started coaching Edwards when he joined the Richmond Cricket Club as a 15-year-old.

Edwards soaked up knowledge from the club’s international players like Cameron White and Dan Christian.

“There’s been plenty of players blessed with more talent but he had a real competitiveness about him,” said Young.

“Very early on we knew he had a real application for the game, he played the game very strategically and he was always happy to guide others.”

When Edwards was 19, he moved to The Netherlands as he had dual citizenship courtesy of his grandmother.

The right-hander continues to play club cricket for Richmond in the Australian summer and has represented the Victoria second eleven.

Edwards made his debut for The Netherlands in 2017 and was appointed captain five years later.

The victory over the Proteas in Dharamshala on the edge of the Himalayas is a career high that will be hard to top.

“Proud of the group putting in that performance as a whole and being able to play my part is obviously nice,” said Edwards after collecting his man of the match award.

“We came into the tournament and we wanted to have a chance of playing semifinals and if you want to do that you’ve got to beat teams.

It’s the first victory for the Dutch at a men’s ODI World Cup, in their fifth appearance in the showpiece event.

The calm approach the wicketkeeper showed while his team bowled out a potent South African batting line-up for 207 was honed during his time with as captain of the Richmond T20 team in the Victorian Premier Cricket competition.

 “We’ve had lots of conversations about the game and how you move the game forward and always take positive options and he was always willing to do that,” said Young.

“He really instils trust and belief in his players and, when you have leaders that do that, it’s quite noticeable.

“The last couple of years when the Holland guys have got a sniff, their belief in each other has been really evident.”

Netherlands all-rounder Logan van Beek told the official Cricket World Cup website that Edwards’ high standards at training and love of the game rubs off on the team.

“Scott is just one of those guys that you want to follow,” van Beek said.

“He’s a great guy, he’s got no ego, he’s consistent, he’s someone that works his butt off.”

Edwards won the Jack Ryder Medal in 2021, the highest individual honour in Victorian Premier Cricket.

He boasts a healthy ODI batting average of 41 from as many matches and his 14 half-centuries is a Dutch record he shares with Ryan ten Doeschate.

Edwards’ batting style won’t be compared with elegant stroke makers like Mark Waugh or Usman Khawaja but he can exploit opposition who haven’t done their research.

“He’s a very good player of spin, he sweeps a lot both traditional and reverse,” Young said.

“He’s a creative player more suited to the new forms of the game.

“Aesthetically he’s probably not as pleasing as some guys but he’s very effective, his processes are well practiced and he backs what he does well.”

A player who grew up idolising Australian players like Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting is now inspiring young cricketers in The Netherlands and, regardless of what happens in the World Cup, Scott Edwards will be back wearing the Richmond cap this summer and helping to coach the club’s wicketkeepers and batters.

“He’s just a really level-headed down to earth guy,” Young said.

“He looks forward to coming back as much as we do of getting him back and all the boys look forward to seeing him, the other guys at Richmond love him.”