South Africa: Quinton de Cock, van der Dussen, and Aiden Markram, all three of them ton up to thrash the victory from Sri Lanka in their first World Cup match in Delhi.

Aiden Markram scored the fastest World Cup century in just 49 balls as South Africa defeated Sri Lanka by 102 runs on Saturday in Delhi. Quinton De Kock and Rassie van der Dussen also scored crushing centuries as South Africa sounded the early warning with a massive 428 for 5 against Sri Lanka.

South Africa

South Africa Squad:

Temba Bavuma (C), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Lizaad Williams.

Sri Lanka Squad:

Dasun Shanaka (C), Kusal Mendis (VC), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Matheesha Pathirana, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka.

Match Summary:

The trio of De Kock (100 off 84 balls), Dussen (108 off 110 balls), and Markram (106 off 54 balls) went on a tear to propel South Africa beyond Australia’s 417 for 7 against Afghanistan in the 2015 World Cup, which was the highest World Cup total ever.

The game was primarily won in a direct shootout between the batsmen, making it a day to forget for the bowlers. And in that regard, even though Sri Lanka probably suffered a rather decisive defeat in the end, they will feel that this was a contest in which they were able to achieve more positives than would have been imaginable at the midway point.

Even though three of their bowlers went for nine or more runs in an over, five of their bowlers averaged over eight runs per over, but a team whose ability to score runs quickly was seriously questioned, managed well in what was certain to be a tough chase.

Kusal Mendis was the one who formulate the innings with his 25 ball 50 and set the tone for Sri Lanka. But unfortunately, Pathum Nissanka returned to the pavilion after getting caught on a duck, while Kusal Perera remained scoreless distrubing the rhythm of Kusal Mendis.

Kusal Mendis being the rarest batter to score his fifty when the overall team score was 54. In the first ten overs, he smashed eight sixes, when overall Sri Lanka smashed nine sixes in first ten overs.

But as he collapsed, the hope for Sri Lanka’s chances disappeared. Then, half centuries of Charith Asalanka (79 off 65) and Dasun Shanaka (68 off 62) kept the hopes alive, which ultimately fainted once the remaining target went off the mark.

Along with the win, South Africa put off some records :

  • Aiden Markram beat Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien with the fastest World Cup century in 49 balls.
  • South Africa’s total of 428-5 is the greatest total ever in a World Cup game and the biggest at the Kotla.
  • The total of 107 boundaries in both the innings is a World Cup game record.
  • This was only the fourth ODI in which the same team had three centurions.
  • This match’s total for a men’s ODI World Cup match broke the previous record of 714 runs set in Nottingham in 2019 between Australia and Bangladesh.
Halaat Pakistan 7 October 2023 2 Comments Men's World Cup 2023, Cricket, Sports