CWC 2023, SA vs NZ: Proteas display batting prowess; Kiwis drop to 4th place

CWC 2023, South Africa vs New Zealand: Quinton de Kock's 114, Rassie van der Dussen's 133 and Marco Jansen's 3-31 are top performances. New Zealand lost to South Africa and dropped to 4th place in points table.

de Kock, van der Dussen added 200-run for 2nd wicket (Images: ©Twitter)

Brief Scores: SA 357/4 (Van der Dussen 133, De Kock 114, Southee 2/77) beat NZ 167 (Phillips 60, Maharaj 4/46, Jansen 3/31) by 190 runs.

Player of the Match: Rassie van der Dussen (133 run knock)

South Africa, in their same fierce batting manner, blew away the New Zealand bowling attack in all parts of the park. New Zealand didn’t just turn up with both bat and ball. The Proteas were on top with the ball from the beginning.

New Zealand came into this vital game after two consecutive defeats, while powerful South Africa were on the brink of a semifinal spot. Both teams met at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.

NZ have a strong ODI WC head-to-head over the Proteas with a 6-2 margin, having won all their ODI WC clashes in the face-off since 1999.

Read More: CWC 2023, AUS vs NZ: Kiwis fight hard but lose; Australia stay at number 4

Talking point: New Zealand finds short of death bowling option

New Zealand have found themselves short of death bowling resources. Except Trent Boult, no one seems to do the job. A huge injury list has also hit them. Matt Henry is the new inclusion with a hamstring issue. Neesham’s death bowling hasn’t helped them too.

South Africa puts one leg in the semis with a heavy 190-run victory

New Zealand captain Tom Latham, on winning the toss, opted to bowl first, keeping the potential dew in mind. Kagiso Rabada came back for SA as Tabraiz Shamsi made way. Injured Lockie Ferguson missed out for NZ as Tim Southee returned.

South Africa had a scratchy start at 38/1 inside the first 10 overs. But they recovered well, shouldering on the 200-run second-wicket partnership to reach 238/2 in 40 overs. Later, David Miller’s 30-ball 53 fired them to 357/4 in the allotted 50 overs.

New Zealand had a decent start at 51/2 in the first 10 overs. But they kept losing wickets regularly from that position to be reduced to 109/6 in 25 overs. Phillips fought with 60 but was bundled out for 167, losing the game by 190 runs.

Top three performances from New Zealand vs South Africa game in CWC 2023

de Kock scored 4th hundred in World Cup 2023 (Images: ©CricCrazyJohns/Twitter)

De Kock nailed 114 to celebrate the fourth CWC23 century

South Africa went off to a fiery start thanks to Quinton de Kock, who brought up his fourth century of this World Cup campaign.

De Kock lofted Tim Southee over long-on for a six before smashing Mitchell Santner in the same region for a six. He reverse-swept Rachin Ravindra for a boundary to reach his fifty in 62 balls. When he didn’t get a boundary for an extended period, he focused mostly on singles and doubles.

He whipped Glenn Phillips over mid-wicket for a four before pulling Southee away to the fine leg for the same result. He reverse-swept Mitchell Santner for another four to short third man. With hoisting James Neesham over the long leg for a six, De Kock celebrated his 21st ODI century in 103 balls.

He finished on 114 with 10 fours and three sixes, now having 6721 runs in 152 ODIs.

Read More: CWC 2023, SA vs PAK: SA prevail in see-saw encounter, rise to top spot

van der Dussen scored 2nd World Cup hundred for SA (Images: ©CricCrazyJohns/Twitter)

Van der Dussen blew away New Zealand with 133 run knock

Rassie Van der Dussen began this season with a fabulous century but found himself a little out of touch since then. He moved the clock in the right direction on a vital encounter.

Van der Dussen pulled Southee through square leg for a four before launching Ravindra in the deep mid-wicket stand for a six. Slamming Phillips straight down the ground for another over boundary, he cracked his fifty in 61 balls.

After finding the fielders most of the time, he broke the shackles, timing Neesham over mid-wicket for a boundary. Van der Dussen cracked Neesham for a boundary through backward square leg to notch up his sixth ODI hundred in 101 balls. He creamed Neesham for two back-to-back sixes in the long-on region.

Shouldering on 133 with nine fours and five sixes, he carried him to 2227 ODI runs in 51 innings.

Read More: CWC 2023, SA vs BAN: Proteas outclass Bangladesh, rise to no. 2 in points table

Jansen took 3-31 against New Zealand (Images: ©ProteasMenCSA/Twitter)

Jansen broke NZ’s back with 3/31

Marco Jansen has been excellent with the new ball for his side. He found the edge of Devon Conway (2), who was caught in the slip. Ravindra (9) pulled the tall bowler into the hands of the fine-leg fielder.

He returned later to find Southee (7) plumbed before the stumps. He finished with 3/31 to now have 34 ODI wickets in 21 games.

Read More: CWC 2023, IND vs NZ: Shami takes fifer, Kohli scores 95 to execute another successful chase

Statistical highlights from New Zealand vs South Africa, Pune, CWC 2023

• The CWC 2023 is the second World Cup season after 2015, where at least 400 sixes have been hit.

• The 200-run second wicket stand is South Africa’s highest ODI wicket partnership for any wicket against New Zealand.

• Quinto de Kock becomes the third player to score 4 or more centuries in a single World Cup season after Kumar Sangakkara and Rohit Sharma.

• 357/4 is South Africa’s ninth 350+ team total in ODI WC, joint most along with Australia.

• Quinton de Kock has 545 runs in CWC 2023, the most by a South African individual in an ODI World Cup edition.

• De Kock becomes the third joint most centurion (21) for South Africa with Herschelle Gibbs.

• Van der Dussen’s 133 is the third-highest individual ODI score for SA against NZ.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Points Table

Points Table after South Africa vs New Zealand

Points table scenario & what’s to come

South Africa moves to the top with 12 points and NRR of +2.290 and finds themselves with one leg in the semis. NZ drops to number four with a damaged NRR of +0.48.

India will lock horns with Sri Lanka on November 2 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Read More: CWC 2023, ENG vs SA: Klaasen's ton, Jansen's all-round hand prove decisive; Eng slump to 9th spot

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