Match number 10 of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 was played between Australia and South Africa. Both sides were equally balanced with lots of power and experience in their playing XI. The game was played at Lucknow’s Ekana Sports City Stadium where Australia won the toss and decided to field first. Quinton de Kock and the skipper, Temba Bavuma came out to bat, whereas Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were given the new ball to restrict the openers to score runs and ultimately eliminate them. But what happened on the field was extremely disappointing for the Aussies, they missed multiple chances to break the partnership and put the opposition under pressure.
Quinton De Kock was looking in fine touch and Temba Bavuma was playing carefully until he was caught by David Warner on Glenn Maxwell’s delivery. Bavuma scored 35 runs in 55 balls with the help of 2 boundaries. South Africa was in a good position when Bavuma got dismissed as the opening pair went on to make a 108-run partnership in 118 balls. Rassie Van Der Dussen then joined Quinton De Kock to take the South African inning forward, but Van Der Dussen was soon sent back by Adam Zampa on the score of 26 runs. The experienced Aiden Markram then joined Quinton De Kock who was standing tall and scoring runs from the other end. He got to his century, his second consecutive in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 but was soon dismissed by Glenn Maxwell. Quinton scored 109 runs in 106 balls with the help of 8 fours and 5 sixes.
Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen then made a good partnership of 66 runs as Markram was sent back to the pavilion by Australian Skipper, Pat Cummins for a well-made 56 runs in 44 balls with the help of 7 boundaries and a six. South African lower order batted well which helped them to score 311 runs. Glenn Maxwell turned out to be the most successful bowler as he took 2 wickets by conceding just 34 runs in his 10 overs.
In today’s modern cricket, chasing a total of 312 is not that big of a deal and Pakistan showed us that a few days back with their impeccable batting display from top and middle order. Australia would’ve thought the same but South Africa had some good plans for their arch-rivals. Within the first 10 overs, the top 3 Australian batsmen were sent back to the pavilion as Marco Jansen sent Mitchell Marsh on just 7, Lungi Ngidi dismissed Warner on 13, and Steve Smith was found in front of the wickets by Kagiso Rabada on 19 runs. Australia was at 50/3 at the time when Jos Inglis joined Marnus Labuschagne, the pair couldn’t save Australia on this occasion. One by One, Australia lost 3 more wickets in just 20 runs.
By then, the game was well out of reach as South Africans winded up the Aussies on just 177 runs. Kagiso Rabada took 3 wickets whereas Lungi Ngidi, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, and Marco Jansen took 1, 2, 2, and 2 wickets, respectively. For his match-defining knock, Quinton De Kock was awarded as “Man of the Match.”
A few records were also broken during the 10th Match of ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023:
- Australia lost 5 wickets for less than 70 runs in a World Cup Match for the first time in 40 Years.
- Australia also suffered their biggest defeat in the history of the ODI World Cup. – 134 Runs.
Also Recommended: Australia vs South Africa full scorecard
