1 year ago
200
Days after snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in a thrilling chase against Pakistan, South Africa were back to registering one-sided victories after batting first, which has become their set template in what has been a stellar ICC World Cup campaign so far.
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On Wednesday, it was New Zealand’s turn to experience what defending champions England as well as former winners Australia and Sri Lanka had gone through earlier in the tournament — a complete annihilation at the hands of what is the most well-rounded unit in the tournament alongside hosts India.
Surprisingly, it was New Zealand stand-in skipper Tom Latham who chose to invite the South Africans to come in and have a bat, a decision that did raise many an eyebrow and would eventually turn out to be a questionable one. The Proteas would once again go on to post a 350-plus score — 357/4 to be precise — on the board before another clinical bowling display would have the Black Caps bundled out for a meagre 167 in reply.
Here are five key moments from the Wednesday’s New Zealand vs South Africa World Cup match at Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium:
De Kock and van der Dussen slam tons
South Africa’s Quinton de Kock celebrates after bringing up his fourth century of the ongoing ICC World Cup in the match against New Zealand in Pune. APThe foundation for South Africa’s massive 357-run total was set by the 200-run second-wicket partnership between Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen — the Proteas’ highest for any wicket in World Cup matches against New Zealand.
Read | Quinton de Kock equals Kumar Sangakkara’s feat
Both de Kock (114) and van der Dussen (133) would bring up their centuries along the way, with the former emulating legendary Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Sangakkara by bringing up his fourth century in the ongoing edition. Van der Dussen, who scored his second century of the ongoing tournament, would later top-score for the team and eventually bag the Player of the Match award.
Henry injures himself
New Zealand have been dealing with a number of fitness issues throughout their campaign, with regular skipper Kane Williamson still sidelined due to an injured thumb.
On Wednesday, it was Matt Henry’s turn with the pacer suffering a hamstring injury three deliveries into his sixth over after being reintroduced around the halfway mark. All-rounder James Neesham would complete his over, and Henry’s absence meant a greater role with the ball for Neesham.
Henry would play no further part during South Africa’s innings, and would later hobble his way to the centre as the last New Zealand batter out. His presence, however, uncomfortable, helped Glenn Phillips reduce the margin of defeat with some lusty blows all over the park.
Miller provides a late flourish
While de Kock and van der Dussen did indeed lay the foundation for the Proteas’ massive total, they were going at a relatively steady pace and hadn’t quite adopted the slam-bang approach yet.
The fact that their massive partnership meant South Africa had enough wickets in hand heading into the last 10 overs meant their middle-order could play more freely. This is where David Miller stepped in with a fiery 53 off just 30 deliveries that did the job perfectly as far as finishing the South African innings on a high was concerned.
Miller was eventually caught rather superbly by Daryl Mitchell at long off in the penultimate ball, only for Aiden Markram to walk out and smack a six over long leg in his only delivery of the innings.
Jansen once again makes the new ball count
Marco Jansen once again used pace as well as the extra bounce generated thanks to his height to deadly effect, getting both Devon Conway (2) and Rachin Ravindra (9) — heroes of New Zealand’s nine-wicket mauling of defending champions England in the tournament opener on 5 October.
Conway was looking to play on the backfoot behind square when, surprised by the extra bounce, he ended up nicking it straight to Markram at slip. Jansen would use the bounce again for a wicket, this time to dismiss Ravindra who ended up holing out to Gerald Coetzee at fine leg
Jansen wouldn’t strike until much later. At that point however, the game was pretty much settled, and his early strikes would have had something to do with it.
Maharaj puts in another royal performance
South Africa’s spin department has also been roaring proudly in the ongoing World Cup in India and the likes of Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi have more than lived up to their expectations so far as far as troubling the opposition batters is concerned.
With Shamsi having been rested in favour of Kagiso Rabada, who regained his place in the XI despite a match-winning four-fer against Pakistan, it was up to Maharaj to polish off the remainder of the batting unit after the seamers had done the job upfront.
Starting with the crucial wicket of all-rounder Mitchell that snapped a budding fifth-wicket partnership with Glenn Phillips, the left-arm spinner would continue laying traps and forcing batters to commit mistakes, and would eventually be rewarded with a haul of 4/46.
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