Wednesday saw South Africa, headed to the semi-finals, defeat New Zealand by 190 runs, their sixth victory in seven games, with two centuries from Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen.
With just Will Young (33) and Daryl Mitchell (24) providing any opposition, New Zealand collapsed to 90-5 in 19 overs while chasing 358. Despite this, South Africa would not give up and dismissed them for 167 in 35.3 overs, leaving them needing a rescue act.
Despite a valiant 60 from Glenn Phillips, pace bowler Marco Jansen (3-31) started the onslaught with an early double strike, while spinner Keshav Maharaj (4-46) delivered crucial blows to ensure that New Zealand had little chance of coming back at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
Days after the two teams faced off in the Rugby World Cup final, South Africa won 357–4 because of late-inning runs from De Kock (114) and Van der Dussen (133), who scored his second century.
“Clinical display, I would say,” Temba Bavuma, the captain of South Africa, remarked. “We managed the front-end challenge with the bat and the nipping ball. The extensive collaboration nicely set up the lads.
“We kept up the pressure with the ball throughout their innings… Very methodical in the way we use our abilities.”
With the win, South Africa overtook India at the top of the rankings, while New Zealand, in fourth position, is still vying for a spot in the semi-finals.
With David Miller dismissing the New Zealand bowlers with a thirty-ball fifty-three, the Proteas built on the 200-run partnership between De Kock and Van van Dussen with 119 in the final ten overs.
After winning the toss and choosing to bowl, South Africa started the innings methodically. They overcame the removal of Bavuma (24) and showed off their strength by having top-scorer De Kock reach 500 runs in the competition.
After the competition, De Kock, who will retire from the 50-over format, looked to accelerate after milking the Black Caps bowlers in a perfect innings and reaching his century with a stunning six over long-leg off Jimmy Neesham.
After right thumb surgery in September, he struck two more boundaries. Still, he let Phillips have a straightforward catch at backward point, giving Tim Southee (2-77) his first wicket on his comeback to competitive action.
Player of the match Van der Dussen stated, “We were talking about 300-320 at one point in the middle, but we’ve seen so often in the last 12-18 months what the guys coming in can do.”
“We knew the possibilities were endless if we could provide them another platform. We were relatively happy that we had reached 360 (nearly).
On a day of little celebration for New Zealand, when seamer Matt Henry had lost his bowling abilities because of a right hamstring injury midway through South Africa’s innings, Southee comfortably defeated Van van Dussen.
Neesham did not break any bones, but he was only allowed to bat at number nine after being struck on the hand when blocking a ball off his bowling.
“Not our best performance,” Latham admitted before his team’s next match against Pakistan. “With Rassie and Quinton’s incredible partnership up top, we were under pressure.”
“It was a nice surface, but a large score at the midway point. From the perspective of batting, partnerships are essential. With our backs against the wall and down three, four, and five early, we could not forge such alliances. “Disappointing the way it panned out.”
