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At the toss at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka spoke of it being a good track which led them to opting to field. Additionally, they targeted restricting South Africa cheaply to give themselves a chance despite losing Dushmantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga for the tournament and Maheesh Theekshana for the time being. Temba Bavuma, his counterpart, said they’d have liked to bowl as well but will take the chance to bat instead.
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The sunny weather with mercury reading 38 degrees Celsius in India’s national capital potentially pit the scales in Sri Lanka’s favour. South Africa might have preferred staying in the pavillion for as long as they could.
Bavuma didn’t stay out for long, perishing in just the second over. South Africa had concerns at the top and they were highlighted once again. But that is all that Sri Lanka celebrated for the rest of the day. Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram all struck centuries. De Kock and Dussen stitched a 204-run partnership for the second wicket. Then came a 50-run stand between Markram and Dussen, followed by a 78-run partnership between Markram and Heinrich Klaasen.
South Africa were banking on their batting depth to come good this World Cup but not even the Proteas would have expected it to arrive this early and in such record-breaking fashion.
Their final score, 428 runs, is the highest in the men’s ODI World Cup. It was South Africa’s eighth 400-plus total in 50-over cricket – the rest of the world has two in total. Three centuries in the same innings have never come at a World Cup. Markram’s 100 off 49 is now the fastest century at an ODI World Cup.
The flat surface in Delhi and quick outfield was accepted with glee by the South African batters as they pummelled 14 sixes and 45 boundaries or 264 runs in boundaries – just over 60% of their total.
RECORD BREAKING INNINGS by South Africa today vs Sri Lanka.
– Fastest WC century.
– First team with 3 centurions in the same innings of a WC.
– Highest ever WC score.
– Most times registered 400+ totals in WC.#IccCricketWorldCup2023 | #SAvsSL pic.twitter.com/VIAgmkBAfb
— î (@ixxcric) October 7, 2023
The performance was a far cry from their dismal 99-run collapse the last time they played here in Delhi. On that day, just three players reached double figures.
It was also in stark contrast to their 2019 World Cup campaign where South Africa faced question marks over the future of the team despite picking a consolation win in the last contest to alter the semi-final lineup. Van der Dussen was a centurion that day in Manchester while De Kock and Markram made up the playing XI.
In terms of making a mark and sending out a warning to the rest of the field, this was right up there. There was no hurried batting, there was no lucky business to it. It was a complete, self-assured, confident and ruthless batting display.
When Sri Lanka came out to bat, they did much of the same leather beating. Their 326 runs from 45 overs were laced with 19 sixes and 29 boundaries for a collective 230 runs or 70% of the total.
In all, South Africa and Sri Lanka struck 754 runs, smacked 31 sixes and whacked 74 fours leaving many wondering if this was a collection of multiple T20 matches or just one condensed game of Bazball.
The 754 runs is the highest aggregate for a men’s ODI World Cup match. The 31 sixes is the joint second-most sixes hit in a World Cup game. Only two bowlers could bowl maiden overs on a surface that was seemingly prepared for an IPL game. The most economical bowler was Dasun Shanaka and even he went for six an over.
What does it mean for ODI cricket? “The way batters are playing nowadays you wouldn’t be surprised if that record (of highest total) is broken in this competition,” said Aiden Markram.
“You do a lot of planning before the game,” Markram said. “It’s natural for teams to speculate about conditions, especially for South Africans coming over to India. You’re not always 100% sure how it’s going to play.
“Then you get out there and the wicket starts playing really well. It’s initially a big sigh of relief, and secondly, your instinct takes over and it becomes a see-ball, hit-ball mentality. Marrying the two of them is crucial.”
South Africa, desperate to shed the chokers tag and years of heartbreak and sheer bad luck, celebrated the three milestone centuries in an animated manner.
“It’s quite strange; you almost get this thing that takes over your body at certain moments,” Markram said. “There’s a lot of passion in this team to give our absolute all at this World Cup and see how far it can get us.
“We’ve been known to start slowly so we put a lot of emphasis on today’s game, to start well and play the same cricket we’ve been playing to manage to sneak into this competition. All of those emotions mixed up and building up comes out.”
During their defence, South Africa started strongly with Marco Jansen striking in the second over. But Kusal Mendis took over with 51 runs from 54 balls and Sri Lanka were doing near double of South Africa at the end of 10 overs. Was a mammoth chase, record for Sri Lanka, on?
Not quite. In the 13th over, Mendis, Sri Lanka’s most dependable batter in the unit, was done in by the bounce off a Kagiso Rabada delivery to edge it to Klaasen who took the catch behind the stumps in place of the cramping De Kock.
In the next 45 balls, only 41 runs came, coupled with three wickets and the hope of chasing things down also perished in the process. Charith Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka scored half-centuries, shared the pitch to score 82 runs off 72, but it was all in an effort to reduce the net run rate than change the inevitable outcome.
Maybe South Africa had mentally checked out too which would explain their horrid display in the field later while dropping three catches.
Bavuma rued the absence of ‘clinical performance’ by his side. “We wanted to win and did that. As a batter, nothing to find fault in. (We) asked for a clinical performance but didn’t get that. The individual performances were good,” he said after.
Sri Lanka skipper Shanaka, meanwhile, tried to look at the bright side knowing their bowling limitations amid injuries. “Tough one to manage things while missing three key bowlers. But you know that’s part of the game. I’m happy with the positive intent with bat; first ten overs with ball was good too. Need to sharpen up for the next game,” he said.
For Sri Lanka, the next assignment is against Pakistan in Hyderabad (on 10 October) while South Africa face Australia in Lucknow (on 12 October).
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