Hashim Amla’s 20th one-day international (ODI) century yesterday set South Africa on course for their second 400-plus total in an as many Cricket World Cup matches and a 201-run win over Ireland.
Amla (159) and teammate Faf du Plessis (109) shared a 247-run second-wicket stand before Rilee Russow (61 not out) and David Miller (46 not out) added an unbroken 110-run stand in the final eight overs to lift South Africa to 411-4, beating their own mark — set on Friday — for the second-highest total at a World Cup.
It also made South Africa the first team to post back-to-back totals of 400 or more in the ODI format.
Photo: Reuters
“The nice thing was we did it our way — we weren’t following someone else’s strategy, we followed our game plan,” South Africa skipper A.B. de Villiers said, adding that Amla “will always be the rock for us.”
Ireland were in trouble early in their reply, with leading batsmen Paul Stirling (9), Williams Porterfield (12) and Ed Joyce (0) out in the first five overs, as the score slipped to 21-3, with Dale Steyn (2-39 ) and Kyle Abbott (4-21) getting right on top. Andy Balbirnie (58) and Kevin O’Brien (48) prolonged the innings before Ireland were all out for 210 after 45 overs.
South Africa were stung by a lopsided 130-run loss to defending champions India in Melbourne on Feb. 22, when they were bowled out for 177, but have registered back-to-back 400-plus scores since.
Photo: AFP
South Africa were coming off a 257-run win over the West Indies in Sydney on Friday, when De Villiers struck an unbeaten 162 off 66 deliveries in a total of 408-5 — at the time second only to India’s 413-5 against Bermuda in 2007.
After just a three day break, South Africa’s batting lineup turned on the style again.
This time, though, it was not De Villiers doing all the damage.
Opener Amla punished Ireland for a dropped catch when he was on 10, scoring a career-best 159 from 128 deliveries, hitting 16 fours and four sixes as he controlled the partnership with Du Plessis after the pair joined in the third over with the total at 12. His 20 ODI centuries have come in 111 matches, making him the fastest batsman to reach that milestone.
Du Plessis was out with the total at 259 and Amla continued with De Villiers, who scored 24 from nine, until a double breakthrough within three deliveries from Andy McBrine (2-63) in the 42nd over temporarily slowed the South Africa onslaught.
“There was disappointment, but we couldn’t dwell on it. We had to get on with it,” Ireland captain William Porterfield said of the dropped catch. “You want to be taking your chances, but that’s part of cricket as well.”
Ed Joyce, who dropped the catch at mid-wicket off Kevin O’Brien’s bowling in the sixth over, held on to the chance at long-off when Amla stepped down the pitch and lofted a McBrine ball into the deep. De Villiers clubbed two sixes and a four in his innings before he top-edged an attempted reverse sweep from McBrine to Niall O’Brien at backward point with the total at 301.
“We had wickets in hand so we could have a go. Thankfully it came off,” Amla said of the big total. “Any hundred is a hundred, doesn’t matter how long it takes.”
The fifth-wicket pair took up the attack, with Russow hitting six fours and three sixes from his 30 deliveries and Miller also scoring at a strike-rate of 200.
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