Mumbai, Oct 21: Asked by England to bat first, South Africa were 373/5 in 48.3 overs in the 20th match of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium, here on Saturday. Middle order danger-man Heinrich Klaasen hit a superb ton to help Africa cross the 350-mark with ease.
Seasoned campaigner Quinton de Kock departed early after putting only 4 runs on the board.
But his new opening partner Reeza Hendricks, who got to open due to regular skipper Temba Bavuma's injury, was impressive with his 75-ball 85-run innings. He was unlucky to miss out his ton, as leg spinner Adil Rashid got him LBW.
Man-in-form Rassie van der Dussen hit run-a-ball 60, before falling prey to Rashid again. Dussen was caught by Jonny Bairstow.
Africa's skipper in-charge Adien Markram scored 42, before being claimed by Recce Topley, with Jonny Bairstow taking a super running catch at deep square leg.
David Miller had a very brief stay at the wicket as he was caught by Ben Stokes and Topley claimed his third victim in the match.
Earlier, England made three changes in the playing XI that lost to Afghanistan in their last match. As expected, Ben Stokes has recovered from an a right hip injury and is back while David Willey and Gus Atkinson come in for Chris Woakes and Sam Curran.
Skipper Jos Buttler said it was a good ground for chasing and they haven't batted as well as they would have liked to. He reckoned that the wicket will favour pace.
Markram, leading the side in the absence of Temba Bavuma, who pulled up ill, said it was unfortunate to lose the skipper but felt it was an opportunity for Reeza Hendricks.
Markram was happy to be batting first as it looked like a good wicket. He felt the wicket will ease up further after the Power-play and
Markram says Temba has pulled up ill, unfortunate to lose him but it's an opportunity for Hendricks. He's been knocking on the door for a while but the openers have been incredible. Happy batting first, looks a good wicket, will be a good wicket especially after the powerplay.
"The loss (against the Netherlands) motivates you a bit. We gotta reach back to the standards we'd set previously," said Markram.
England XI:
Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (Captain and keeper), David Willey, Adil Rashid, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Reece Topley.
South Africa XI:
Adien Markram (Captain), Quinton de Kock (Wicket-keeper), Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen, Henrich Klassen, David Miller, Marcus Jansen, Gerald Coietzee, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi. (With IANS inputs)
