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Temba Bavuma-led South Africa climbed to the first spot on the points table with a convincing win over Tom Latham's New Zealand in Pune on November 1. New Zealand suffered their second-worst defeat in World Cups as they got bowled out for 167 and lost the match by a massive margin of 190 runs. Rassie van der Dussen and Quinton de Kock set the tone with their respective centuries followed by a clinical bowling display to wrap up the match with plenty of overs to spare.
Earlier, Latham won the toss and opted to field first. De Kock and Bavuma started off cautiously. Bavuma hit the first six of the innings off Matt Henry in the sixth over. In his last over with the new ball, Trent Boult dismissed Bavuma for a 28-ball 24. In the next over, De Kock was dropped by Glenn Phillips off Tim Southee's bowling. He was batting on 12 then. After several quiet overs, De Kock took the attacking approach against Southee in the 16th over. Rassie van der Dussen in the 21st over hit the first six of his innings. In the same over, De Kock got to his half-century from 62 balls.
In the 29th over, Dussen reached his half-century from 61 balls. The partnership continued to grow in the middle overs. The two batters picked up pace. Dussen got lucky as he survived a run out chance and his catch was dropped in the 36th over. Meanwhile, De Kock reached his fourth century of the tournament in style with a six. Henry’s injury created more problems for Latham. A tired De Kock threw his wicket away in the 40th over. Southee broke the 200-run partnership for the second wicket. He scored 114 runs from 116 balls featuring 10 fours and three sixes.
Dussen got to his second century of the tournament with 101 balls. He started taking more risks and hit James Neesham for two sixes and a four in the 44th over. David Miller joined him as well. He hit part-time spinner Phillips for two back-to-back sixes in the 46th over. Southee in his last over broke the partnership. Dussen departed for 133 from 118 balls including nine fours and five sixes. Miller and Heinrich Klaasen spoiled Boult's bowling figures in the penultimate over. In the last over, Miller hit Neesham for a six to reach his half-century from just 29 balls. He got out the next ball. His knock featured two fours and four sixes. Aiden Markram came out to bat and finished the innings with a six to help South Africa post 357/4.
In the run chase, New Zealand lost the wicket of Devon Conway early. Marco Jansen got his wicket in the third over. Will Young hit a few boundaries while Rachin Ravindra took his time to settle in the middle. In the ninth over, Jansen struck again to dismiss Ravindra for a single-digit score. Gerald Coetzee was introduced into the attack and he forced an outside edge off Young's bat. He departed after scoring 33 runs from 37 balls. During an economical spell, Kagiso Rabada troubled Latham and got his wicket for a single-digit score.
With wickets falling at the other end, Phillips took an attacking approach. But Keshav Maharaj got the better of him in his first over. Mitchell went for a full-bloodied loft but got caught by Maharaj. He scored 24 runs from 30 balls. A few overs later, Maharaj dismissed Mitchell Santner as well to make matters worse for the Kiwis. Jansen was brought back into the attack to wrap up the innings. Southee shuffled across to play the flick shot but got out lbw. An injured Neesham walked out to bat at no.9. But he could not last long in the middle. He got bowled by Maharaj.
Boult entertained the crowd with his antics. He scored nine runs before taking the aerial route against Maharaj to get caught. Henry braved the injury to walk out to bat. He blocked it out whereas Phillips hit fours and sixes to reach his half-century. Coetzee wrapped up the innings with his wicket in the 36th over. Phillips scored 60 runs from 50 balls including four fours and as many sixes. New Zealand got bowled out for 167 and lost by 190 runs.
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