Record-breaking South Africans set Kotla ground ablaze!

QDK, Van der Dussen and Markram score hundreds

October 7, 2023: For all the pain Lankans have inflicted on the Proteas over the years, it looked like today was the day of redemption for the South African batting line-up at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground - Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi. Sri Lanka was also not left behind in the run feast that felt like a sumptuous offering of high-flying sixes and tracer bullet boundaries.

 

When Kusal Mendis almost pulled off a "Gibbs-like prison break

 

Kusal Mendis was in an improbable zone today, scoring a super impressive 76 at a near 200 average. He was explosive, calculated and free-spirited in his response to what Janssen, Rabada and Ngidi threw at him. While he batted, Mendis reminded me of the breathtaking Hershelle Gibbs innings in the mammoth chase against Australia. The other Kusal was finding it hard to put bat to ball, and Mendis compensated it with every stroke that left the middle of the bat.

Asalanka and Shanaka tried the repair work, but with wickets falling at regular intervals, the pressure of a mammoth target gets better of any team. Sri Lanka did not play badly today, just that they were overwhelmed by a South African Team with some of the best players in the ODI business.

 

Earlier in the day, Bavuma would have cursed himself for squandering a golden opportunity to score big. Quinton de Kock and Rassie Van der Dussen made the most of this opportunity by scoring briskly and aggressively. It was not like the rain that poured suddenly, it was a steady drizzle that built itself so well that when Markram came to the crease, he unleashed hell on the Lankan Bowlers. Their talismanic duo of Wellalage and Pathirana gave away nine runs an over. Imagine the mayhem Markram conjured on them, scoring the fastest century in all world cups. They were not brutal, just clinical. The Proteas scored only 14 sixes in a 400+ score and over three times the same number in fours, as they recorded the first time three batters scored hundreds in an ODI innings at the World Cup.

All is not well again in the bowling department for South Africa, the 102 run margin of victory after posting such a mammoth total, raises doubts over the same consistency of their batting.

This game will be remembered for whirlwind batting of Markram and Kusal Mendis. A full-length entertainer, won by the team batting first courtesy of the pressure of target on the team chasing.

- Sairam, Team Pure Cricket

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Pics: Internet