World Cup 2023: South Africa star in similar script, brace for India next

Another day, another day with the bat for South Africa, another big total and another win. It appears to be the script of the World Cup. A script that has been followed five times this tournament. Quick recap though: 428 runs vs Sri Lanka, 311 vs Australia, 399 vs England, 382 vs Bangladesh and now 357 vs New Zealand. In the two matches they’ve been required to chase, against Netherlands and Pakistan, Proteas have struggled - losing one and barely scraping through in the other. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table The theme has started to become familiar and predictable. Centuries coming with utter ease. Quinton de Kock racking up a fourth ton of the World Cup already. Rassie van der Dussen his second in Pune. It doesn’t matter if there is a big stand right at the start with De Kock and Temba Bavuma’s best being 108 runs. What is also predictable is De Kock and Van der Dussen’s presence in stitching vital partnerships to virtually put the game in the bed in the first innings itself. The duo have two of the biggest partnerships for South Africa at the World Cup (204 vs Sri Lanka, 200 vs New Zealand). De Kock features in five of the 10 biggest partnerships for them. Van der Dussen, who comes in at one-down, is there four times.

Seven matches into the tournament, South Africa have totalled the opposition in five matches, winning six, and are all but assured of a semi-final spot. This South Africa side feels and looks different than the ones that have come before it. 1-wicket win over Pakistan is all the evidence you need on that front. In Pune on Wednesday, Tom Latham made the odd decision to field against South Africa who had registered seven totals over 300 runs in the last seven ODIs they batted first. That trickled to eight, longest streak in men’s ODIs, when things were done at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium.

Van der Dussen smashed 133, Quinton de Kock a 114, they shared a 200 run second-wicket partnership to take South Africa to 357/4. When defending it, Marcos Jansen took 3/31 and Keshav Maharaj 4/46 to dismiss New Zealand for 167 and win by a staggering 190 runs. The stats and records are plenty but here are the highlights: South Africa now have joint-most centuries by a team at a single World Cup (8*). Most 350-plus totals at a single World Cup (4). South Africa have won nine ODIs by 100-plus run margin in 2023 - most in men’s cricket.

De Kock is the leading run-scorer at the 2023 ODI World Cup with 545 runs in seven innings. He has four centuries becoming only the third batter with four-or-more tons in a ODI World Cup after Kumar Sangakkara (four in 2015) and Rohit Sharma (five in 2019). “He’s ploughing back into the team in all aspects - in the bowling meetings, in the batting meetings, and by being one of our senior guys,” Van der Dussen said of De Kock’s contribution. “He’s one of my favourite guys to bat with. He really guided me through my innings today. At times I was under pressure and I was asking him about a few options. He’s such a cool and calm guy out there; he thinks so clearly. “He doesn’t talk much; he does it out on the field. And I think that’s inspirational for us as a team and the rest of the guys to see someone like that come up with the goods.”

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With their batting catching the attention of many, for good reason, the bowling has been exceptional as well. Marco Jansen is the joint top-wicket taker with 16 scalps - same number as Adam Zampa and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Gerald Coetzee and Kagiso Rabada are among the top-10 wicket-takers. Though, one could argue that the bowlers’ success is in part due to the batters posting a massive total in the first place which creates pressure. Again a quick recap, South Africa, when batting first, have won by 102 runs, 134 runs, 229 runs, 149 runs and now 190 runs. The outlier in this wins department is a one-wicket triumph against Pakistan when chasing. South Africa have India next. India are yet to lose this World Cup with Sri Lanka to come later in the day at the Wankhede Stadium. That could be a big test for South Africa and their, dare I say it, World Cup winning credentials. What India will offer is a side that is clicking perfectly with the bat, with the ball, in the field and enjoys a strong support at home. Are South Africa intimidated? Not quite. “Playing India in India is a massive event,” Van der Dussen said. “They’ve been playing really well and they have a lot of experience in their team. They’ve got all bases covered - a brilliant attack and batting line-up. “But we’ll go into that game knowing that if we do the things well that we want to do well, we’ll be in a really strong position. The challenge is to execute under pressure, to stay with that, and that’s what we’ll look to do. But we’ve played them here before and we’ve beaten them here before. So, in a sense, even though it’s a World Cup, it’s not really too different.” When South Africa returned from an apartheid-induced ban from cricket after 22 yeras, their first fixture was against India. It was November 1991 and the venue was Eden Gardens in Kolkata. It will be the same venue on Sunday for these two. But, the magnitude of the occasion and preparadness for it has changed. South Africa are well and truly ready.