South Africa looked unstoppable on a pitch that aided batting more than bowling in Delhi to open their account in the ODI World Cup with a thumping victory! Having posted more than 400 runs on the board, South Africa managed to register a victory by more than 100 runs!
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| Image Credits: ESPN Cricinfo |
South Africa did post a massive total of 428/5 in 50 overs courtesy of centuries each from Quinton de Kock (100), Rassie van der Dussen (108), and Aiden Markram (106). Markram reached his ton in just 49 deliveries becoming the fastest player to the milestone beating Kevin O'Brien's 50-ball feat against England in 2011 in Mumbai.
Heinrich Klassen (32 off 20), David Miller (39 off 21), and Marco Jansen (12 off 7) all made valuable contributions with the bat. All the Sri Lankan bowlers have taken a beating while young Mateesha Pathirana conceded the most, 95 runs from his 10 overs with a wicket. In fact, four of Sri Lanka's 6 bowlers have conceded over 80 runs each in this innings!
During the run-chase, Kusal Mendis threatened to take the game away with a blistering 42-ball 76 which included 4 fours and 8 sixes. Contributions of Charith Asalanka (79 off 65) and Dasun Shanaka (68 off 62) in the middle and Kasun Rajitha's little cameo - 33 off 31 - in the end dragged Sri Lanka's innings to 326 before getting bowled out in 44.5 overs.
South Africa would have liked a bigger victory margin but a win by 102 runs was also bigger nonetheless! South African captain Aiden Markram who scored the fastest hundred in ODI World Cup matches has been adjudged Player of the Match.
Brief Scores: South Africa - 428/5 in 50 overs (Rassie van der Dussen - 108, Aiden Markram - 106, Quinton de Kock - 100, ) defeated Sri Lanka - 326 all out in 44.5 overs (Charith Asalanka - 79, Gerald Coetzee - 3/68) by a margin of 102 runs
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