NZ vs SA: Yet another day in business and yet again a comprehensive display of clinical performance from the South Africans as they thrashed New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. The Proteas defeated New Zealand by a massive 190 runs to leap over Team India and claim the number 1 position in the ODI World Cup 2023 Points Table.
South Africa were simply outstanding, the previous night, as they have been throughout this competition, barring the game against Netherlands. The batting was on point, then the bowlers were right on the money.
Piling up a massive total has been the agenda for South Africa in the ongoing World Cup 2023 and they obliged again when they were put to bat first by the Kiwis. Despite losing skipper Temba Bavuma early in the innings, Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen stitched a 200-run partnership to put their team on the way for a big total. In the process, Quinton de Kock scored his fourth ton of the tournament, while van der Dussen completed second.
Later in the innings, David Miller played a quickfire 30-ball 53 runs innings to help South Africa post 357 runs on the board for New Zealand.
After the batting masterclass, it was South Africa’s time to exploit the surface with their formidable bowling unit. Lanky pacer Marco Jansen began the destruction with the scalp of opener Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra in the third and ninth over respectively. Jansen was joined by Gerald Coetzee on the wicket-taking spree.
Meanwhile, the other two pacers on the side kept the pressure on New Zealand. They bowled tight lines and didn’t let New Zealand batters take their innings off at any point. The pressure played to the Kiwis’ mind and spinner Keshav Maharaj rightly used it to his advantage by picking four wickets.
Barring Glenn Phillips, who scored 60 runs off 50 deliveries, no other batter could go past the 35-run mark, the second-best being Will Young’s 33-run knock. Eventually, New Zealand was bowled out for 167 runs total in 35.3 overs by the South Africans, as they won the contest by a massive 190 runs.
NZ vs SA: South Africa moves to TOP of ODI World Cup 2023 Points Table
Just like other wins for South Africa in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023, this too was a massive one. Having won the game by 190 runs, their net run rate kept over 2, which is the best in the tournament. The victory also powered South Africa to topple Team India and sit atop the ODI World Cup 2023 Points Table with 12 points and a much better net run rate than India.
New Zealand, on the other side, slipped down to the fourth position with the loss against South Africa. The Kiwis have four wins and three losses from their seven matches.
NZ vs SA: Updated World Cup 2023 Points Table
| POS | TEAM | PLAYED | WON | LOST | N/R | TIED | NET RR | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Africa | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +2.290 | 12 |
| 2 | India | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1.405 | 12 |
| 3 | Australia | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +0.970 | 8 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +0.484 | 8 |
| 5 | Pakistan | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -0.024 | 6 |
| 6 | Afghanistan | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -0.718 | 6 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -0.275 | 4 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -1.277 | 4 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -1.446 | 2 |
| 10 | England | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -1.652 | 2 |
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