In a thrilling encounter at the ongoing World Cup 2023, South Africa emerged victorious by a convincing margin of 134 runs against Australia in the 10th ODI match held in Lucknow on Thursday. Australia faced a challenging target of 313 runs but succumbed to the pressure, getting bowled out for 177 in 40.5 overs. Kagiso Rabada played a pivotal role, claiming three crucial wickets, while Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi contributed with two dismissals each. Marnus Labuschagne was the top-scorer for Australia, managing 46 runs off 74 balls.
In the first innings, South Africa’s Quinton de Kock displayed exceptional form, smashing a brilliant century. He scored 109 runs off 106 balls, comprising eight boundaries and five sixes before being dismissed by Maxwell in the 35th over. Aiden Markram also played a significant innings, contributing 56 runs off 44 deliveries, featuring seven fours and a six. Australia’s bowling attack, led by Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell, managed to secure two wickets each. Additionally, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, and Adam Zampa each claimed a dismissal, but South Africa’s total reached a competitive 311/7 in their allotted 50 overs.
Temba Bavuma: I do think 311 was a couple over par, probably 290-300 was par. I guess I’m glad we lost the toss because we wanted to chase as well. I was scratchy with the bat, found it hard but Quinton (de Kock) needs to be given credit for the way he played. I think I’d be really greedy if I said there are things we can improve. It was almost the perfect game. The bowlers bowled really well, they have been under some slap but looking at all the phases, I think the guys really dominated. I’ll take that as our second game. Need to acknowledge the batting effort, the bowling effort was all about being clinical. Lungi (Ngidi) taking the new ball and KG (Rabada) showing intensity is what we’re looking for. In our team, character is the biggest thing we’ve spoken about. You can’t overlook the good work we’ve done, let’s take the confidence and learnings. Let’s celebrate it and come back for the next one.
Pat Cummins: I thought Quinton (de Kock) batted really well, couldn’t get a breakthrough. From where they were, we were quite happy with 310, thought it was chaseable. Looked like hard work out there tonight, their bowlers bowled really well, think it nipped around a bit more under lights. (On if it would’ve been easier to bat first) Really hard to say, if we want to be challenging in this tournament we need to find ways of performing regardless of batting first or second. Don’t think much needs to be said tonight, everyone’s hurting, we’ll try and take a couple of days off and then make amends to come back stronger in the next one. There’s a few things we need to tidy up.
Quinton de Kock | Player of the Match: It was a great win for the boys, to be honest, we didn’t know how the pitch would play, we assessed the conditions beautifully and then applied ourselves well with the bat. The guys who spent time on the wicket, got a hand on the conditions and then used their scoring options. 311 was an above par score, I have played here for the Lucknow team (in the IPL), it becomes harder to bat second. The wicket does change a bit. It was sweaty and humid, the bowlers were on top of their game, no real loose balls and they picked early wickets. I think we are keen to prove ourselves, we played well, but it’s just 2 games, the World Cup is a long tournament and games come quickly around, we will take it on a match-by-match basis.
