Share

Proteas surge to the top

Cape Town - The Proteas surged to the top of Group B at the ICC Cricket World Cup when they overwhelmed the Netherlands by 231 runs - the fourth biggest winning margin in World Cup history - at Mohali on Thursday.

Video: Tahir's three wickets

Gallery: South Africa crush Netherlands

They now have maximum points from their first two matches plus a hugely positive net run rate of 2.76 and a bucket load of confidence going into their third match against England at Chennai on Sunday.

This is another day game starting at 06:00 (SA time).

Apart from the opening 15 overs when the Proteas, put into bat, had to battle their way through conditions that assisted seam and swing following early morning rain, they were in total command throughout the match.

After 15 overs and three balls (including the bowling power play) the Proteas had lost both Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis in putting a modest 58 runs on the board.

But the match changed forever with the arrival of AB de Villiers at the crease. He won his second successive Man of the Match award and set up the Proteas’ record total for this particular ground of 351/5 in a third wicket partnership of 221 with Hashim Amla.

De Villiers (134 off 98 balls with 13 fours and 4 sixes before he needlessly ran himself out) and Amla (117 off 130 balls with 8 fours) scored their 11th and 8th ODI century respectively. De Villiers is the first South African to score two centuries at a single World Cup and he has now eclipsed the record of Herschelle Gibbs (2 centuries) with his 3 World Cup centuries for the Proteas.

The manner in which he dominated is clearly demonstrated: The Proteas scored 225 runs while he was at the crease and he got 134 of them.

The third-wicket partnership went past several previous marks: the SA record for the 3rd wicket against the Netherlands was previously 105 (Gibbs and Kallis), SA’s third wicket World Cup record was 145 (Gary Kirsten and Daryll Cullinan), the Mohali 3rd wicket record was 153 (Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga for Sri Lanka), and the South African 3rd wicket record was 217 (De Villiers and JP Duminy earlier this season against Zimbabwe).

To complete a very positive day for the Proteas De Villiers led the way hitting 3 successive sixes in one over and 3 successive fours in the next to enable the side to score 136 in the last 10 overs. This included 69/2 in the batting power play which was the second best for the tournament behind the 70 scored by Pakistan against Kenya.

Duminy carried on where De Villiers left off hitting 40 off just 15 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes. This must have dispelled the notion that the Proteas lack power hitters in the middle order. De Villiers had a strike rate of 136.73, Faf du Plessis 128.57 and Duminy 266.66!

If there was any prospect of the Netherlands repeating the batting heroics of Ireland the previous day they were quickly shut down as the only managed 44/1 in the opening 10 overs and 55/2 by the end of the bowling power play. Kallis was particularly impressive in taking a lively 2/19 in 6 overs.

Thereafter it was over to the spinners. Johan Botha dropped out of the starting line-up to make room for Morne van Wyk and his off spinning role fell to Duminy. The three spinners took a collective 6/57 in 17.5 overs as Netherlands lost their last 8 wickets for just 39 runs.

There was a direct run out for Smith while Dale Steyn took the important wicket of Ryan ten Doeschate.

Imran Tahir had the best figures of 3/19 in 6.5 overs and has now taken a collective 7/60 in his two World Cup matches. This amounts to a strike rate of a fraction over 14 balls per wicket.

De Villiers did not field because of a recurring back strain suffered while batting. This was a precaution with the England game coming up on Sunday.

“I’m enjoying my batting at the moment”, commented De Villiers. “I’ve worked really hard to get into this kind of form again. I’ve been struggling a little bit with the India series back home but it’s great to be back to some good form.”
We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2249 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE