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In a pivotal encounter, South Africa and New Zealand faced off at Pune’s Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. Having won the toss, New Zealand elected to bat first against South Africa. Each of the two teams made one alteration to their starting lineup from the previous game. Lockie Ferguson was replaced by Tim Southee in the New Zealand squad, and Tabraiz Shamsi was replaced by Kagiso Rabada in the South African squad. South Africa scored 357 runs. Here is a recap of the first innings.
New Zealand bowlers bowl with control
For New Zealand, Trent Boult and Matt Henry got off to a slow start, giving up just six runs in the first three overs. Temba Bavuma, the captain of South Africa, broke free with two boundaries in the fourth over. Boult produced a maiden over and kept up his stingy bowling. In the sixth over, Bavuma blasted yet another six. In the eighth over, De Kock hit his first four. When Boult eventually got rid of Bavuma in the ninth over, it was a reward for his meticulous bowling. Bavuma smashed four fours and one six to score 24 runs in 28 balls. Tim South bowled the last over of the powerplay, coming into the attack in place of Henry. In his opening World Cup over, Southee scored five runs. South Africa ended the powerplay with 43 runs on the scoreboard.
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De Kock and Van Der Dussen provide control
Following the powerplay, Mitchell Santner and Southee kept things tight, giving up just 16 runs in the first five overs. In the 16th over, De Kock scored more runs with two fours and a six, while Southee gave up 12 runs. In just six overs (18–23), De Kock and Rassie van der Dussen amassed 38 runs by attacking the Kiwi bowlers. Meanwhile, De Kock extended his purple run in the World Cup by reaching his half-century mark. The South African opener became the team’s best run scorer in a single World Cup, surpassing Jacques Kallis’ 485 runs from that tournament.
South Africa in control
In the 26th over, van der Dussen hit Glenn Phillips for a six when he was attempting to accumulate overs for the fifth bowler. As the suffering for New Zealand went on, Henry hurt his right hamstring while bowling his sixth over and left the pitch. James Neesham completed his over. In the 27th over, the South African pair reached their partnership score of 100 runs.
In an attempt to gain control of the game, Tom Latham pulled Boult back into the assault. The Blackcaps’ lone wicket-taker bowled a two-over stint while giving up eight runs. In the thirty-third and thirty-fourth overs, respectively, Santner and Neesham entered the assault. They let up 45 runs in five overs as South Africa began to pick up speed. In the 36th over, De Kock reached his fourth half-century off of just 103 balls. Together with David Warner, De Kock now holds the second-most centuries in a single edition.
In an attempt to get a wicket, Southee and Boult were brought back into the attack. Boult went for seven in his opening over, while Southee gave up nine runs. On the penultimate ball of the 40th over, Southee broke the 200-run stand. De Kock was dismissed by the seasoned Kiwi pacer. With 10 fours and three sixes, the opening batsman amassed 114 runs in 116 deliveries.
South Africa eye up yet another big score
In the 41st over, Santner returned to the attack and gave up four runs in that over. While contesting a caught-behind call against David Miller, New Zealand squandered a review. Following a run of poor scores, Van Der Dussen struck a four in the 42nd over to get his second century of the competition.
Similar to his performance against Australia in the opening game, Neesham remained costly in the final over. In the 44th over, van der Dussen smashed him for two sixes and a four, costing him 20 runs. Continuing his aggressive style, Van der Dussen smashed another six in the next over. After Neesham was removed, Phillips too went for big scores, hitting two sixes off of Miller to produce an eighteen-run over. In his last over, Southee dismissed the dangerous-looking van der Dussen. Van der Dussen struck nine fours and five sixes his route to scoring 133 runs in 118 balls. The over still went for nine runs as Miller struck a six in the over. Southee on his return ended with figures of 10-0-77-2. Boult’s final over went for 14 runs as Miller hit him for a four while Heinrich Klassen hit a six. Boult ended his quota with figures 10-1-49-1. Miller completed his fifty in the final over by hitting a six off Neesham’s bowling. He reached the milestone in just 29 balls. He was dismissed on the following delivery thanks to a great catch by Darryl Mitchell fielding at long-off.