South Africa managed to pull off a gigantic victory over New Zealand at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. Batting first, the Proteas went all guns blazing with Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen leading the attack. Both cricketers scored a century each as their partnership of 200 runs, helped South Africa post 357 runs on board in the first innings. Notably, after they went back to the pavilion, David Miller wreaked havoc and that’s a positive sign for the team going forward.
When it came to the chase, the Black Caps lost wickets at regular intervals. They lost three wickets in 10.3 overs and that more or less cemented their fate for the day as the team needed a brilliant start to chase the total down. Neither of the batters could perform to their potential as Marco Jansen picked up three wickets, while Keshav Maharaj picked up four. With that, South Africa moved an inch closer to the semis while New Zealand are in a bit of bother at the moment.
Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen masterclass
Quinton de Kock managed to hit his fourth century in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. He looked unstoppable as Rassie van der Dussen supported him well in the middle. He too ended up scoring a century and that gave South Africa a perfect opportunity to finish on a higher note.
Clueless Kiwis
Neither the batters nor the bowlers stepped up to the occasion. Skipper Tom Latham won the toss and decided to bowl first, even when the pitch had a history of helping the team batting first. Hence, his decision remains a bit mysterious. Other than that, the team will have to improve a lot at the business end of the tournament to cement their semis spot.
David Miller special
David Miller was the only player in the Proteas camp who failed to fire so far in the tournament. However, against New Zealand, he played a brilliant brand of cricket and hit 53 runs off 30 deliveries to help the team post a magnificent total on the board.
Losing skipper Tom Latham said:
Not our best performance. We were under pressure after that partnership (between de Kock and Rassie.) It was a big score. From the batting point of view, we had to have those partnerships, but we had our back against the wall. Those two played fantastically well. Should have restricted them to 330-odd, that would have been better. It was a small ground and a good surface, but we couldn’t do much in those first 10 overs. I think they put themselves in a great position, we were not able to build partnerships, that was disappointing. We have faced adversities with injuries. We will reflect on to this one quickly and move to the next one, we don’t become a bad team overnight.
Winning skipper Temba Bavuma said:
Clinical display I would say. We had a good partnership between de Kock and Rassie. Fairly happy, clinical in terms of the execution by the bowlers. Quinny and I tried to assess the conditions. We pouched on the bad balls, was able to get a couple of away. Quinny wasn’t in his flow at the start, but stuck to the plan – go unscathed till the 30th over and then maximise with our big hitters. We knew they were going to come hard at us, and we would get the opportunities. We did what we have been doing. Need to check with our (team) manager, but looks like this win does guarantee us a semi-final spot, so we’ll celebrate a bit tomorrow and back to work day after.
POTM Rassie van der Dussen said:
I thought they bowled pretty well up front. Our run-rate was around 4 runs per over. It was a hard working fifty for Quinny (de Kock) and then he guided me. We batted together quite nicely. The pitch got better when the ball got softer, luckily it worked well for us. It’s one of those pitches when you hit a good length there’s something in it for the bowlers, so we communicated that to our bowlers. Test match lengths work. They kept a lid on us but we knew if we take it deep we can score big later. Quinny was brilliant in reminding me to keep my shape. Be relentless if it’s in your area but respect the good ball. Miller and the others were brilliant at the end. 300-320 is what we were talking in the middle. Very pleased we got over the line by a good margin. Everyone contributed. Out and out team performance.