The Proteas have just shown the Springboks how it should be done when they overpowered England by 229 runs in a World Cup match in Mumbai.
In hot and muggy conditions, Rassie van der Dussen, Reeza Hendricks and Marco Jansen smashed fifties, while Heinrich Klaasen’s century was the icing on the cake.
After 50 overs, the Proteas boasted an impressive score of 399/7.
England’s batting line-up undoubtedly has the necessary firepower to chase such a big score successfully. But Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow could not score a single more than 15 runs.
The South Africans’ victory would have been even greater had it not been for a nimble partnership between Mark Wood (43 from 17 balls) and Gus Atkinson (35 from 21 balls).
Jansen followed up his batting blitzkrieg with a good spell of bowling and sent two Englishmen (Dawid Malan and Root) back to the dressing room.
The fiery Gerald Coetzee then took three wickets in his four overs to rob England of any batting momentum.
However, Klaasen was deservedly named the player of the match.
“The conditions were brutal, if I have to be honest. The heat and stuffiness robbed you of all your energy and I consider this hundred to be one of my best yet,” said the 32-year-old South African.
He also sang the praises of Jansen who shared a partnership of 151 runs with him from just 77 deliveries.
“Jansen was excellent. He encouraged me and I think that he actually deserves the award. The runs he scored were extremely important.”
The Proteas play Bangladesh on Tuesday.
- Summary of the scorecard:
South Africa 399/7 in 50 overs: Heinrich Klaasen 109, Reeza Hendricks 85, Marco Jansen 75* and Reece Topley 3/88.
England 170/10 in 22 overs: Mark Wood 43*, Gerald Coetzee 3/35 and Lungi Ngidi 2/26.
- World Cup standings after four matches:
- New Zealand: 8 points with a net run rate of 1.923
- India: 8 runs at a net run rate of 1,659
- South Africa: 6 points with a net run rate of 2.212
- Australia: 4 points with a net run rate of -0.193
- Pakistan: 4 points with a net run rate of -0.456
- Bangladesh: 2 runs with a net run rate of -0.784
- Netherlands: 2 points with a net run rate of -0.790
- Sri Lanka: 2 runs at a net run rate of -1.048
- England: 2 points with a net run rate of -1.248
- Afghanistan: 2 points with a net run rate of -1,250
