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ODI world cup 2023 Cricket

'Australia ke liye bhulane wali raat' - Fans react as South Africa steamrolls five-time champions in 2023 ODI World Cup

It's a rarity from the five-time champions Australia, but the Proteas have sounded a warning bell to all the World Cup favourites with their back-to-back landslide victories.

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Mathew K
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AUS vs SA

AUS vs SA

South Africa annihilated Australia by 134 runs in Match 10 of the 2023 ODI World Cup in Lucknow on Thursday, October 12. It's a rarity from the five-time champions, but the Proteas have sounded a warning bell to all the favourites with their back-to-back landslide victories. Seven dropped catches, numerous misfields, followed by a below-par batting display, Australia deserved to be on the losing side. 

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Australia opted to field first with the aim of dismantling the Proteas top-order like they had done against India in Chennai. However, skipper Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock survived the pace attack of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. They started cautiously and once the conditions were assessed, the Australians had little room to breathe. With de Kock being aggressive, the opening pair put on a 108-run partnership before Glenn Maxwell applied the breaks in the 20th over.

The spin-bowling all-rounder sent Bavuma back to the pavilion for 35 runs. That did not hamper the momentum of De Kock, who notched up his 19th ODI century. The wicketkeeper-batter grabbed the limelight with back-to-back centuries in the ongoing World Cup and his final. The southpaw fell soon after the milestone, but Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen kept the scoreboard ticking.

Markram, the fastest centurion in World Cup history, got a brilliant half-century, while Klaasen scored 29 off 27. Later in the innings, David Miller and Marco Jansen played effective cameos to take South Africa's total past 300. Not to forget, the Ptoteas were also well supported by the Australian fielders with several misfields and dropped catches.

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The game was already over in the powerplay

Chasing 311, Australia got off to a disastrous start as they lost a flurry of wickets in the powerplay. Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi sent both the openers - Mitchell Marsh and David Warner - packing in successive overs. Steve Smith tried to build a partnership with Marnus Labuschagne but had to part with a controversial lbw call. South Africa took three more wickets in quick succession to take the game completely away from Australia.

Labuschagne was the only top-order batter who put up some resistance, scoring 46 off 74 balls. All-rounder Marcus Stonis also got out on a controversial umpiring decision and Australia were reeling at 70-6 in 17.2 overs. Some handy contributions from Mitchell Starc (27 off 51) and Pat Cummins (22 off 21) pushed the team total to 177 in 40.5 overs and avoided more embarrassment. 

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Here's how fans reacted to South Africa's thumping win over Australia: 

 

 

 

 

 

Australia featured South Africa ODI World Cup 2023