Temba Bavuma with his teammates© AFP
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma was pleased with his team’s clinical display with the bat after defeating New Zealand by 190 runs on Wednesday at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. Proteas came out on top against close competitors New Zealand, recording their first win over the Blackcaps since 1999 in the men’s World Cup. Bavuma lavished praise on centurions Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen for their clinical display with the bat. To assist the Proteas win their sixth game in seven, De Kock blasted his fourth century of the World Cup, and Van der Dussen also slammed a ton.
South Africa reached 357-4 thanks to innings from De Kock (114) and Van der Dussen (133), who scored his second century. In the final 10 overs, the Proteas added 119 runs to their total as David Miller tormented the New Zealand bowlers with a thirty-ball fifty-three.
“Clinical display with bat. Handled the challenge with the ball nipping around. We applied pressure with the ball. We tried to pounce on bad balls, Quinny started slowly, hung in there and cashed in at the end. More than the score, we were trying to stay in till 30 and go big later on. We were always looking to dominate with the new ball and middle overs. Knew they’d come hard at us and we’d get opportunities,” Bavuma said in a post-match presentation.
Throughout the competition, Proteas fired a warning shot with five totals above 300, including more than 400 against Sri Lanka.
Gotta hear the permutations about making the semi. After tomorrow, it’s back to business, gotta prepare for the next game,” he added.
South Africa was bolstered by Marco Jansen’s twin wicket in the opening powerplay and Kagiso Rabada and Gerald Coetzee then claimed wickets of their own. Keshav Maharaj struck in his opening over and removed the reliable Daryl Mitchell, finishing with a figure of 4-46, ensuring the spinners had their say.
South Africa moved to the top of the World Cup 2023 points table with a thumping 190-run victory in Pune. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s NRR took a big hit as they slid below Australia into fourth.
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