Quinton de Kock hit his fourth century of the World Cup cricket tournament and after 50 overs the Proteas have 357/4 on the scoreboard against the Blackcaps.
Definitely still on track to follow in the Springboks’ footsteps and face a New Zealand team at an international sporting event.
De Kock hit 13 boundaries in his innings of 114 runs from 116 balls and he celebrated his century with a graceful six off Jimmy Neesham’s bowling.
The Protea wicket-keeper has now already scored 545 runs in his seven World Cup matches at an average of 77.85. He also enjoyed a partnership of 200 runs with Rassie van der Dussen for the second wicket.
Van der Dussen (133 from 118 balls) later also reached his century with a boundary and so together with David Miller (53 from 30 balls) he ensured that the Protea scoreboard kept going.
Aiden Markram hit the first delivery of his innings – also coincidentally the last delivery of the Protea innings – for a six to end the South Africans’ batting effort on a high.
A winning target of 358 runs is a difficult challenge, but the Kiwis earlier scored almost 389 runs for victory against Australia.
In Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway and Neesham, the New Zealanders have dangerous batsmen who are not afraid of just any bowler.
But the Proteas have already shown in India that they can stay standing in pressure cooker situations. They just have to keep doing it.
- Summary of the scorecard:
South Africa 357/4 after 50 overs: Rassie van der Dussen 133, Quinton de Kock 114 and Tim Southee 2/77.
- Teams:
South Africa: Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma (captain), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (captain), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Tim Southee and Trent Boult.
