The African dominance continues in the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023. Since the start of the tournament, South Africa have been very determined to write a new history in the World Cup. Apart from the surprising defeat against Netherlands, South Africa have won all their remaining games so far.
With seven victories in a row, the Proteas are now at the top of the table. South Africa have been showing their batting prowess in this tournament. They scored more than 300+ runs in all five games they bat first. Today, the Proteas have defeated New Zealand, one of the favorites in this World Cup, by a massive 190 runs. The defeat put New Zealand at high risk. If they lose to Pakistan in their next match, they could be eliminated from the World Cup.
Match Report
Tom Latham, the captain of New Zealand, won the toss and opted to bowl first. But South African players made Tom Latham’s decision wrong as they were continuously picking runs. Although skipper Temba Bavuma departed early, Quinton de Kock had run riot over the Kiwis with Rassie van der Dussen.
From 38/1 to 238/2, they made an unbelievable partnership of 200 runs for the Proteas. Quinton de Kock smashed his 4th century today in the World Cup, which has made him the top run scorer (545) of this tournament so far. Before he left the crease, de Kock scored 114 runs from 116 balls.
On the other hand, Rassie van der Dussen also got a century today. He scored an aggressive 133 runs from 118 balls. Dussen hit five sixes and nine fours before leaving the pitch. In addition, David Miller played a vital role after coming into the crease. His aggressive 53 off 30 helped South Africa to post a total of 357 runs in 50 overs.
Chasing the challenging target, the Black Caps were nowhere near to winning the game. Protea pacer Marco Jansen drew the first blood as he picked up Devon Conway in the 3rd over. Rachin Ravindra, who has been the best emerging player so far in the World Cup, failed to make a good impact today. Jansen once again picked a wicket for South Africa by taking Ravindra.
Will Young tried hard to stay as long as he could but failed. Gerald Coetzee picked him up in the 10.3 over and took control of the match. However, Glenn Phillips was the only batsman for New Zealand to score more than 50 runs. Before losing the wicket, Phillips scored the highest 60 for New Zealand. But his effort couldn’t help but reduce the deficit for New Zealand. In the end, South Africa won the match by a massive 190 runs and now sits at the top of the table.
