New Zealand had threatened Australia's 388 runs in the previous match. Even after South Africa scored 357 runs in Pune yesterday with Quinton de Kock and Recy von der Dussen's double hundred, it seemed that this run was enough to stop New Zealand?
But Marko Jansen's pace and Keshav Maharaj's spin made it more than enough. South Africa won the match by 190 runs after bowling out New Zealand for 167 runs in 35.3 overs. This is New Zealand's second highest loss in terms of runs in the World Cup.
At the end of the match, New Zealand's decision to field after winning the toss was questioned. The question of how reasonable it was to allow this batting lineup of South Africa to bat earlier, like England, New Zealand can now come back to chase. After winning the first four matches, the Kiwis lost their third match in a row. This loss has also given them a big blow to the net run rate. On the other hand, the Proteas have come to the top of the points table with 6 wins in 7 matches and a very healthy net run rate despite stumbling after losing to the Netherlands, and have advanced a lot on the way to the semi-finals. On the other hand, New Zealand's loss has slightly increased the chances of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
New Zealand's innings did not get any momentum in the run chase. After playing a big innings in the first match, Devon Conway could not shine in this match. The second wicket pair of Rachin Ravindra and Will Young tried to take some control, but to no avail. However, their 36-ball 37 is the highest in a New Zealand innings. Glenn Phillips' 50-ball 60 at the end kept New Zealand at bay, but not for long. Maharaj took 4 wickets, Jansen 3.
Dusen was positive from the start. De Kock also stepped up after the ball got a little old. Completed his half-century in 62 balls, James Neesham hit a six and completed his century in just 103 balls. In the end, he hit 10 fours with 3 sixes in an innings of 114 runs off 116 balls. This is his fourth century in this World Cup, making him the third batsman after Kumar Sangakkara and Rohit Sharma to score four centuries in one tournament.
The 200-run partnership with von der Dussen was broken when De Kock stopped by taking a catch from Tim Southee in the last ball of the 40th over. Von der Dusen's partnership with David Miller, who came up at four, made 78 runs in 43 balls. Von der Dusen, who scored a 101-ball century, stopped at 133 off 118 balls after being bowled by Southee. Then Miller, Heinrich Klaasen and Aiden Markram scored 41 runs in the last 17 balls, South Africa 119 runs in the last 10 overs. This is the eighth consecutive match in which they scored 300 or more runs by batting first, which is the first time in ODIs.
With the disappointment of a huge loss of 190 runs, New Zealand's injury list also got a little longer today. After 5.3 overs, Matt Henry went off with a hamstring injury, replaced by James Neesham who scored 69 runs in 5.3 overs. Later, Nisham also got injured in the wrist. Both have batted, but now all five players in the team are not fully fit ahead of the next match against Pakistan on November 4! What will happen to the XI in the next match, maybe New Zealand is worried now.
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