World Cup 2023: Twin centuries and a clinical bowling effort culminate in South Africa's 190-run win

Quinton de Kock and Rassie Van der Dussen put Proteas in the driver's seat by striking scintillating hundreds to power South Africa to 357 for 4 against New Zealand in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Wednesday. Later, the Proteas bowlers turned out to be too hot to handle for New Zealand and they bundled out on 167.

Pune: South African bowlers wreaked havoc with the ball while defending a huge target of 358 and skittled out New Zealand on a very lopw total. Glenn Phillips was the lone warrior for the Blackcaps as he played a knock of 60 runs but his efforts went in vain as no other batter supported him from the other end. South African bowlers kept striking at regular intervals with Keshav Maharaj at the top of the wicket charts taking four wickets for the team. Marco Jansen was another seamer who shined taking three scalps for the side. In the end, South Africa dismissed New Zealand on a total of 167 inking a 190-run win.

Earlier in the day, buoyed by twin centuries from Quinton de Kock (114) and Rassie van der Dussen (133), South Africa hammered the New Zealand bowlers to coast to a mammoth 357 for 4 in the allotted 50 overs in their crucial ICC World Cup 2023 fixture at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Wednesday.

Put into bat first on a belter dished out at the MCA stadium, South Africa lost their first wicket of captain Temba Bavuma (24) at the team total of 38 in the ninth over. Since then, they didn't look back as de Kock and Dussen stitched together a partnership of 200 runs before De Kock was shown the door by Kiwi quick Tim Southee in the 40th over of the tie.

De Kock hit 10 boundaries and three hits over the fences during his 116-delivery stay in the middle. While Dussen took 118 balls to reach 133 with the help of nine fours and five huge sixes.

Hard-hitter David Miller played a cameo of 30-ball 53 to take the score past the 300-run mark and make it an almost insurmountable task for the opponents. Miller hit a couple of boundaries and four over boundaries during his short stay in the crease.

The Black Caps bowlers had no clue how to break the partnership as the batters were hitting them all around the park to take the team's net run rate to such a high that it might play a crucial role in determining the rankings for the semi-finals.

Tim Southee was the most successful bowler claiming 2 wickets for 77 runs in his full quota of 10 overs. Trent Boult and James Neesham scalped one apiece giving away 49 and 63 runs respectively. Neesham conceded 63 in the six overs he bowled.

Brief scores: South Africa 357/4 in 50 overs (Quinton de Kock 114, Rassie van der Dussen 133, David Miller 53; Tim Southee 2/77) vs New Zealand 167 in 35.3 overs (Glenn Phillips 60; Keshav Maharaj 4/46, Marco Jansen 3/31)