International

South Africa beats Netherlands in Mohali

MOHALI: In Gropu A match between South Africa and Netherlands, South Arica showed its talent. A day after Ireland’s heroics in Bangalore gave the Associates a major fillip, normal service resumed in Mohali where AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla reeled off contrasting hundreds to set up a hammering of Netherlands.

Peter Borren elected to field under overcast skies, but things unraveled at an alarming rate after a disciplined show in the first quarter of the match. Amla overcame a sluggish start and focused on accumulation, while de Villiers shredded the attack in a blaze of big hits that was reminiscent of Herschelle Gibbs’ assault in the last World Cup encounter between these two teams. South Africa’s bowlers then backed up the batting with a near-perfect display to set up the fourth-biggest win in World Cup history.

AB de Villiers has now scored two consecutive centuries in the 2011 World Cup. He becomes the first South African to score two centuries in a single World Cup and the fifth batsman after Mark Waugh, Saeed Anwar, Rahul Dravid and Matthew Hayden to score two consecutive centuries in a single World Cup tournament.
de Villiers also became the 16th batsman to score two or more centuries in one World Cup tournament. The record is three centuries in one tournament, jointly held by Mark Waugh (1996), Sourav Ganguly (2003) and Matthew Hayden (2007).

de Villiers’ strike rate of 136.73 is the highest among South African batsmen who have scored centuries in World Cup matches.

Hashim Amla reached his first century in World Cups off 121 balls. Overall, he has scored over 2200 runs at an average of 60.07 with eight centuries and 12 fifties.

The 69 runs scored in South Africa’s batting powerplay is second only to Pakistan’s aggregate of 70 runs in their batting powerplay against Kenya.

The 221-run stand between de Villiers and Amla is the highest third-wicket partnership for South Africa in World Cups and the third highest for any team in the World Cup. It is also the highest partnership for the third wicket for South Africa in all ODIs.

South Africa’s 351 is their third-highest World Cup score and the 12th highest score for any team in World Cups. South Africa’s highest World Cup score is the 356 against West Indies in the 2007 World Cup.
From a decent position of 81 for 2, Netherlands lost their last eight wickets for just 39 runs to be bowled out for 120.

The 231-run win is the fourth largest margin of victory for any team in World Cups and the largest for South Africa in World Cups. It is also the second largest margin of victory for South Africa in ODIs.

With his third player of the match award in World Cups, de Villiers is joint second with Jacques Kallis on the list of South African players with most match awards in World Cups. Lance Klusener heads the list with five awards.

Chasing 352, Netherlands’ best chance of getting anywhere depended on the top order’s ability to see off Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. The openers played out six overs from South Africa’s fastest bowlers, but Jacques Kallis ruined their efforts by snaring two quick wickets after coming in first-change. With the run-rate under control, Graeme Smith deployed his spinners on the lower order, and Netherlands sank without a trace, losing their last seven wickets for 39 runs against Imran Tahir and Robin Peterson.

The margin of victory completely eclipsed Netherlands’ spirited efforts with the new ball. Their steady army of seamers stuck to tight lengths, and their accuracy left Smith prodding uncertainly from the outset, unsure of his footwork and indecisive in his outlook. After 31 balls of struggle, Smith had seen enough, and lost his leg stump while trying to shovel Bernard Loots across the line. Ryan ten Doeschate then won the first round in the battle of the prolific allrounders, strangling Kallis into glancing one down the leg side through to the wicketkeeper Wesley Barresi. At 58 for 2 in the 16th over, South Africa were in some strife. Thankfully for them, their two best batsmen in recent times were on hand to revive the innings. Even their most optimistic fans, though, would not have envisaged the emphatic manner in which the tide was turned.

South Africa made 351 for 5 (de Villiers 134, Amla 113) beat Netherlands scored 120 (Tahir 3-19, Kallis 2-19) by 231 runs

(source- espncricinfo)

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