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2023 Cricket World Cup
One Day International Format
New Zealand v South Africa
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium
Pune, India
Wednesday, 1 November 2023
South Africa will face their biggest challenge yet at the
2023 Cricket World Cup when they go up against New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Wednesday, November 1.
The Proteas (2nd) are two points ahead of the Black Caps (3rd) in the table after six matches, thanks to their nail-biting victory over Pakistan on October 27.
Rob Walter's side beat the Falcons by 1 wicket in Chennai as their run-chase almost faltered after being set a target of 271. Tabraiz Shamsi did the brunt of the damage with the ball, finishing with figures of 4/60 in his 10 overs.
Several of the South African batters made starts, but only Aiden Markram went on to convert, scoring 91 to fall just short of his second century in the tournament.
It was left to Keshav Maharaj to hit the winning runs in the 48th over after the Proteas lost their ninth wicket 11 balls earlier.
.jpg "Tabraiz Shamsi")
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Temba Bavuma and company haven't looked nearly as convincing when batting second and the captain admitted they don't really have a plan when it comes to chasing targets.
"With the batting, there's obviously been pressure with us chasing, and we haven't done well to rectify that," Bavuma said.
"We'll obviously have conversations, but it will be easier now to have those conversations with the win. But it was due to our doing that we allowed the game to get to that point.
"We obviously have a blueprint when batting first, and we've shown that in terms of the scores we have been able to post. We can't say with conviction that we do have the blueprint when we are chasing.
"We're going to get into this situation again, that I do know, and we obviously want to show a lot more of a clinical display with the bat."
New Zealand made an impressive start in India, thrashing defending champions England in the opening game of the World Cup before going on to win their next three matches by comfortable margins.
The Black Caps suffered their first defeat of the tournament against hosts India by 4 wickets before narrowly losing to local rivals Australia by five runs on October 28.
Gary Stead's side dismissed the Aussies for 388 in the 50th over, with Glenn Phillips the pick of their bowlers after taking three wickets for 37 runs in his 10 overs.
After losing Devon Conway and Will Young inside the opening 10 overs, Rachin Ravindra (116) and Daryl Mitchell (54) put on a 96-run stand for the third wicket, while James Neesham (58) kept their hopes alive, but they ultimately came up just short.
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Skipper Tom Latham hailed the performance of Phillips, who was by far the most economical of all the bowlers and kept his cool when Australia were scoring runs for fun.
"To come so close, obviously it hurts. They played fantastically well and put us on the back foot from the start," Latham said.
He (Phillips) bowled fantastically to come and bowl 10 overs for 30 and take three wickets, at crucial times. To bowl his full 10 from one end was great and his work is paying off."
Head-to-Head (ODI)
Matches - 71
New Zealand - 25
South Africa - 41
Draws - 0
No result - 5
ODI World Rankings
4 - South Africa
5 - New Zealand
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