Sports Desk

PUNE: South Africa defeated New Zealand by 190 runs in the 32nd match of the ICC World Cup 2023 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association, Pune, India, on Wednesday.

The Black Caps were outclassed by the in-form Proteas in all departments of the game as some of their main batters failed to score in double digits.

Glenn Phillips top-scored for his side as he stood till the end and scored 60 runs while Will Young was the second top scorer with 33 runs but nothing could be enough in front of the mammoth 358-run target.

Rachin Ravindra, who was the Black Caps’ biggest hope as he 116 in a nail-biter against Australia, failed to score big as he fell prey to Marco Jansen after scoring just nine runs.

New Zealand kept on losing wickets and were eventually all out for 167 runs,

Keshav Maharaj bagged four, Jenses took three, and Gerald Coetzee made two victims.

Batting first, Temba Bavuma provided his side a bright start but he lost his wicket to Trent Boult after scoring 24 runs.

However, after their skipper was gone, Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen formed a 200-run partnership that saw the former scoring 114 runs, his fourth century in the World Cup.

De Kock carried on to his astounding form as he has now scored 545 in seven innings and became the wicketkeeper batter with the most runs in a single edition of the tournament, overtaking the legendary Sri Lankan wicketkeeper batter who scored 543 runs in the 2015 World Cup.

Dussen also scored 133 runs off 118 balls, his knock included nine fours and five sixes as the 34-year-old helped the Proteas to go near the massive total.

However, after the two batters were gone, it was David Miller who played a rapid knock scoring 53 off 30 balls with six boundaries, taking the Proteas to a competitive total of 357 runs, which the Black Caps couldn’t chase.

New Zealand bowlers looked helpless against the dominant South African batters.

The Black Caps will play Pakistan in an important match on November 4 in Bengaluru, the match will be of utmost importance as the winner can possibly book their ticket to the semi-final.

On the other hand, South Africa will now play India on November 5 in Kolkata.