South Africa registered a dominant 134-run win over Australia to continue their winning run in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. The Proteas batted first but had a sluggish start as captain Temba Bavuma couldn't get going. But his partner, Quinton de Kock brought big-hitting form from Delhi as he took an aggressive approach to carry South Africa forward.
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As Bavuma eventually got out, De Kock continued batting freely and stitched up a few crucial partnerships with Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram as the Rainbow Nation took control. Quinton de Kock soon reached his second-consecutive century in 90 balls with a massive six against Pat Cummins.
De Kock lasted four more over before being cleaned up by Glenn Maxwell at a score of 109 in 106 balls. Continuing to improve the scoring rate, Aiden Markram took the reins and completed another clinical half-century as the Proteas posted a 312-run total in their 50 overs.
Then in the second innings, Australia got off to another horrid start with both openers back in the pavilion with the score at 27-2. Instead of getting back into the chase, the Aussie middle order crumbled quickly with Steven Smith, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis getting out after just 43 more runs. There were two controversial decisions going against the Aussies but the five-time champions failed to rediscover their brazen selves.
With just Marnus Labuschagne remaining as the only recognisable batter, Australia were quickly bundled out at the score of 177 runs in 40.5 overs. When the five-time champions look back at the performance, those six dropped catches would be one of the biggest reasons for this defeat.
