Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen smashed centuries as the Proteas moved one step closer to the Cricket World Cup semi-finals following their 190-run victory over New Zealand on Wednesday.
De Kock’s 114 and Van der Dussen’s 133 helped the Proteas build a strong 357–4.
Australia beat New Zealand by five runs while chasing 389 runs just a few days before they fell to 190 all out with more than 14 overs left in Pune.
The top order of New Zealand was ripped apart by Marco Jansen (3-31) and the other fast bowlers from South Africa. Kane Williamson was still out with an injury, so New Zealand fell to 67-4.
Then, left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj (4-46) made South Africa even stronger, and the Black Caps lost the game by 110-8.
That was a brave 60 from Glenn Phillips, but the game was already over by the time he was out.
South Africa had lost five straight World Cups to New Zealand since 1999. With this win, the Proteas, who are trying to win their first one-day international World Cup, were almost certain to make it to the semi-finals.
“Quinny played brilliantly,” said Van der Dussen afterwards.
“They (New Zealand) did well to keep a lid on us for large part of the innings, but we knew if Quinny and I could take it deep we could get momentum on our side.”
After their third loss of the tournament, New Zealand fell to fourth place in the table with eight points, two points ahead of Pakistan and Afghanistan, who still have a game in hand. This hurt their chances of making it to the last four.
“It’s important we reflect on this one quickly and go into the next game with a positive mind, you don’t become a bad team overnight,” said New Zealand captain Tom Latham.
When Latham won the toss and chose to field, he played to South Africa’s strengths.
He defended his call by saying: “You expect yourself to perform at your best, but those two (De Kock and Van der Dussen) played fantastically well.”
De Kock hit an ODI hundred off 103 balls, with eight fours and three sixes. It was his 21st ODI hundred.
He hit a huge six off of Jimmy Neesham to reach 100.
“I’m feeling really good lately. It’s nice that everything is coming together at an important time for us,” said De Kock, who plans to quit ODI cricket after this tournament, at the innings break.
He added: “My career is coming down to a finish, I’m trying to bat as much as I can.”
De Kock also hit 100 runs against Sri Lanka, 109 runs against Australia, and 174 runs in the win over Bangladesh.
At the start of the day, he only needed 69 more runs to get to 500 for the tournament. He passed that mark with a legside four off of Tim Southee, who was brought back into the game.
In the end, Phillips caught him off Southee for 114 runs, ending a 200-run partnership for the second wicket.
Van der Dussen kept up the attack with 133 off of 118 balls, which included five sixes and nine fours.
It was his second hundred of the tournament, following his 108 against Sri Lanka. It was also his sixth hundred in an ODI.
In the 48th over, Southee bowled Van der Dussen out for no run.
David Miller added 53 runs in just 30 balls, including four sixes. Aiden Markram came to the wicket for the last ball and hit it for six.
After seamer Matt Henry hurt his hamstring and left the pitch in the middle of his sixth over, New Zealand used seven bowlers.
Photo by Vipin Pawar/Shutterstock
