New Zealand succumbed to their third straight loss of the 2023 World Cup, leaving questions marks over their progression to the semifinals in a tournament they began with four consecutive wins. They hurtled to a humongous 190-run defeat against South Africa after Quinton de Kock composed his fourth ton (114) of this World Cup, and Rassie van der Dussen chipped in with 133. With the ball in hand, Marco Jansen and Keshav Maharaj took seven wickets between them as they wrested back the top spot in the points table from India.
It was South Africa’s batters who once again erected the base for the bowlers to come into play. New Zealand, who surprisingly opted to bowl against a team known for posting tall scores, rarely seemed to be in the game. After Trent Boult removed Temba Bavuma, de Kock and van der Dussen joined forces to quash New Zealand’s hopes with a 200-run second-wicket stand.
The batting duo took their time before pressing the accelerator. In the 16th over, de Kock took advantage of some ordinary bowling from Tim Southee to crack a four and a six. Rachin Ravindra then either bowled full tosses or dragged it short, with the duo employing the slog, reverse sweep and late cut to great effect.
South Africa reached 150 in the 29th over and 200 in the 36th over. By then, New Zealand had lost Matt Henry to a hamstring injury. Jimmy Neesham, who had to cover for Henry’s overs, began to leak runs. He could have had the wicket of van der Dussen, only for Boult to fluff a chance at long-off.
Ultimately, de Kock fell to Southee. van der Dussen and David Miller stitched together another useful partnership of 78, and from the last seven deliveries of the innings, Heinrich Klaasen and Miller combined to smack three sixes and a four to power South Africa to what seemed like a match-winning total on a deck offering a hint of spongy bounce and grip.
In the chase, only Glenn Phillips, batting at No. 6, was able to negotiate South Africa’s tall pace bowlers and Maharaj. He was the last man to be dismissed, losing his wicket to Gerald Coetzee. Will Young finished with 33 while Mitchell, the middle-order bat, scored 24.
On the other hand, Kagiso Rabada and Jansen extracted some variable bounce from the surface, while Coetzee bowled deceptively fast to run through the heart of the New Zealand batting line-up.
Maharaj, the lone spinner in the side, also found his groove as he used that little bit of grip to rip through the lower order. He returned figures of 4 for 46, with Jansen taking 3 for 31.
South Africa seem to have the hunger to do something special this time around. Meanwhile, New Zealand have lost all their momentum. To make matters worse, they now have to worry about injuries to Mark Chapman, Kane Williamson, Henry and Lockie Ferguson.