Cricket World Cup 2023: South Africa show they are tournament contenders in Sri Lanka win
- Published
SA hit record World Cup total against Sri Lanka
With South Africa, we have been here so many times before.
The cliche needs no repeating. The Proteas' relationship with World Cups has brought only pain.
Stopping the frantic Delhi bustle is impossible but, near the centre of the sprawl, the men in green made the cricketing world pause to take notice in their 102-run win over Sri Lanka.
Could this finally be their time?
In coming from 2-0 down to beat Australia in a series before travelling to India they had us wondering.
That five of their batters - Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller - are in the top 15 of the world rankings tells us something, but we all know rankings can be flawed.
This, though, was their statement.
In racking up 428-5, the highest score ever at a World Cup, Bavuma's men have shown they are serious contenders.
Most impressive was how, in an innings that just got better and better, they made posting a record score look straightforward.
After the early loss of Bavuma, De Kock and Van der Dussen played like they were batting in Shaheedi Park, which is located behind the Arun Jaitley Stadium and would later become the target in a six-hitting contest.
The pair pushed here and drove there in bringing up the first 100 runs of their 204-run partnership in 17.1 overs, before launching the ball into the stands as the next 104 came up in 13.3.
As the score increased, so did the crowd, which started sparse but grew to make an excitable din.
Left-hander De Kock, a veteran of six of South Africa's 50-over and T20 World Cup failures and who will retire from ODIs after this quest for silverware, reached his 18th one-day international century.
That takes him one clear of Jacques Kallis, two ahead of Adam Gilchrist and is three more than Virender Sehwag. He is a great of the modern game.
When he reached three figures the locals cheered his name - the 30-year-old is a star in these parts from his exploits in the Indian Premier League, but this win showed he is not the only one in South Africa's XI.
In Van der Dussen they have one of the world's most underrated cricketers.
Whether in Durban, Durham or Delhi, switch on your TV and the right-handed 34-year-old will have calmly reached 40 not out.
And then came Aiden Markram.
SA’s Markram hits fastest World Cup century
He is unique in South African cricket - a captain who has won a World Cup, having been victorious at under-19 level.
Yet his career has often been one of frustration - a dreamy technique yet only eight centuries from 127 international matches across formats before this game.
His ninth ton will be forever memorable.
In reaching three figures from 49 deliveries he claimed the record for the fastest century at a World Cup, beating pink-haired Kevin O'Brien's iconic knock against England in 2011 by one ball.
Markram's antics meant South Africa hardly even needed the most in-form batter in the world, Heinrich Klaasen.
His 32 from 20 balls, including three sixes, was just a hint at the form that has seen him average 59 with a strike-rate of 151 this year, including a brilliant 174 from just 83 deliveries against Australia a month ago.
Miller, the last of this powerful top six, quickly crunched 39 to show he cannot be forgotten.
He, Klaasen, Markram, Bavuma and De Kock all average over 40 this year and only Pakistan and India have a higher win percentage than the Proteas since the start of last year.
South Africa bring up record score with Jansen six
South Africa's bowling is short of firepower, given hostile fast bowler Anrich Nortje is missing this tournament because of a back issue.
Kagiso Rabada is world-class, Lungi Ngidi dangerous and Gerald Coetzee promising, but Kusal Mendis showed all three pace bowlers can be got at, with eight sixes in his 76.
Marco Jansen bowled both Sri Lanka openers with fine deliveries, but ended up conceding 92 runs.
Two dropped catches and a series of missed run-out chances offer further room for improvement.
But South Africa have a batting line-up to fear and, when the big dance came, they hit the fourth largest total in their history, rather than going into their shell.
Markram is not sure their record will stand for long.
"The way batters are playing nowadays I wouldn't be surprised if this record is broken in this comp," he said.
"It was nice for us to be able to go through the gears."
Their history - rain which eliminated them in 1992, the Herschelle Gibbs dropped catch and the shambolic run-out in 1999, the bad maths in 2003 and the Grant Elliott-induced tears in 2015 - mean we will always have doubts.
Still, with defending champions England perhaps struggling, South Africa have shown they are World Cup contenders.
Fancy a tea break with David Brent? Laugh and cringe with Ricky Gervais' classic comedy The Office
Witness the Colosseum's glory and brutality: Chart the Roman Empire's rise and fall through the lives lived and ended at the epic arena
