South Africa Extends Australia’s Woes in Cricket World Cup with De Kock’s Century

South Africa clinched a dominant 134-run victory over Australia in the World Cup, securing their second win in the tournament. Quinton de Kock shone with a century, his second consecutive one, and Aiden Markram added a half-century before South Africa’s bowlers dismantled the five-time champions.

Australia, tasked with chasing 312 for victory, had a dreadful start, losing their first five wickets with only 65 runs on the board. They struggled against Kagiso Rabada (three wickets for 33 runs), Marco Jansen (two wickets for 54 runs), and Keshav Maharaj (two wickets for 30 runs), eventually folding for 177 in 40.5 overs. Marnus Labuschagne was the only top-order batsman to put up a fight, contributing 46 runs.

South Africa’s victory was built on the strong performances of De Kock, who scored 109, and Markram, who added 56. They helped the Proteas reach a total of 311 for seven in their 50 overs. South Africa batted first after Australia’s captain, Pat Cummins, won the toss. They made a cautious start and survived some close calls before De Kock continued his fine form from the previous win against Sri Lanka. He struck eight fours and five sixes during his 106-ball innings.

South Africa’s captain, Temba Bavuma, had a couple of escapes, as Australia missed some challenging chances, but he was eventually dismissed by Glenn Maxwell (two wickets for 34 runs). De Kock, however, carried on, smashing two big sixes off Josh Hazlewood in the 23rd over.

Rassie van der Dussen, a key player for South Africa, was removed by leg-spinner Adam Zampa after scoring 26 runs. Nonetheless, De Kock continued to accumulate runs and reached his 19th One Day International century with a massive six against Cummins, shortly after Cummins had dropped Markram when he had only scored one run.

Maxwell bowled De Kock, with the ball sneaking through the left-hander’s bat as he attempted a reverse-pull. Markram also fell to Cummins after a brisk innings, as the Australian bowlers slowed down South Africa’s scoring rate. Cummins had the opportunity to claim two more wickets, but Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Starc missed catches on a somewhat sloppy day for Australia in the field. However, a late double strike by Starc (two wickets for 53 runs) in the final over prevented South Africa from posting a higher total. Nevertheless, South Africa’s 311 proved to be more than sufficient for the win.

After Australia’s second defeat of the tournament, Cummins told Sky Sports: “I thought Quinton in particular batted really well, we couldn’t get a breakthrough, but from where they were, we were pretty happy (with 311). On that wicket we felt it was chaseable. It looked like hard work out there at night. Their bowlers bowled really well. It looked like it zipped around perhaps more than during the day but [we were] well off the mark. If we want to be challenging for this tournament you’ve got to try to find a way in all conditions. I think not much needs to be said tonight, everyone’s hurting. We’ve got a few days, the next game’s here as well, so we’ll regroup and try and make amends.”

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