ODI World Cup 2023: 32nd ODI against South Africa and New Zealand – Who Said What?

At Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, South Africa defeated New Zealand with a stunning win. When the Proteas batted first, Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen led the charge and were all out. Each cricket player earned a century, and their 200-run partnership enabled South Africa to reach 357 runs in the opening innings. Notably, David Miller caused mayhem after they returned to the pavilion, which bodes well for the team’s future.

The Black Caps lost wickets frequently when chasing the ball. They needed a strong start to chase the target down, and losing three wickets in 10.3 overs pretty much sealed their fate for the day. Both batsmen failed to live up to their capabilities as Marco Jansen claimed three wickets and Keshav Maharaj four.

With that, South Africa advanced one spot to the semifinals while New Zealand, who are currently having some difficulties, lost ground.

Masterclass with Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen

Achieving his fourth century in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 is Quinton de Kock. With Rassie van der Dussen providing solid middle assistance, he appeared unstoppable. He ultimately scored a century as well, which provided South Africa with the ideal chance to end the match on a positive note.

Clueless Kiwis

Both the bowlers and the hitters failed to rise to the occasion. Despite the fact that the pitch typically favored the team batting first, captain Tom Latham chose to bowl first after winning the toss. As a result, his choice is still a little unclear. Aside from that, the group needs to strengthen significantly on the competitive side of the competition to guarantee a semifinal berth.

David Miller-exclusive

The only member of the Proteas team to score no points in the event thus far is David Miller. He did, however, play a beautiful style of cricket against New Zealand, hitting 53 runs off just 30 deliveries to assist the team score a fantastic total.

Losing skipper Tom Latham said:

Not our best performance. We were under pressure after that partnership (between de Kock and Rassie.) It was a big score. From the batting point of view, we had to have those partnerships, but we had our back against the wall. Those two played fantastically well. Should have restricted them to 330-odd, that would have been better.

It was a small ground and a good surface, but we couldn’t do much in those first 10 overs. I think they put themselves in a great position, we were not able to build partnerships, that was disappointing. We have faced adversities with injuries. We will reflect on to this one quickly and move to the next one, we don’t become a bad team overnight.

Winning skipper Temba Bavuma said:

Clinical display I would say. We had a good partnership between de Kock and Rassie. Fairly happy, clinical in terms of the execution by the bowlers. Quinny and I tried to assess the conditions. We pouched on the bad balls, was able to get a couple of away. Quinny wasn’t in his flow at the start, but stuck to the plan – go unscathed till the 30th over and then maximise with our big hitters.

We knew they were going to come hard at us, and we would get the opportunities. We did what we have been doing. Need to check with our (team) manager, but looks like this win does guarantee us a semi-final spot, so we’ll celebrate a bit tomorrow and back to work day after.

POTM Rassie van der Dussen said:

I thought they bowled pretty well up front. Our run-rate was around 4 runs per over. It was a hard working fifty for Quinny (de Kock) and then he guided me. We batted together quite nicely. The pitch got better when the ball got softer, luckily it worked well for us. It’s one of those pitches when you hit a good length there’s something in it for the bowlers, so we communicated that to our bowlers.

Test match lengths work. They kept a lid on us but we knew if we take it deep we can score big later. Quinny was brilliant in reminding me to keep my shape. Be relentless if it’s in your area but respect the good ball. Miller and the others were brilliant at the end. 300-320 is what we were talking in the middle. Very pleased we got over the line by a good margin. Everyone contributed. Out and out team performance.