South Africa cruised to a straightforward 146-run win over the United Arab Emirates yesterday to secure a World Cup quarter-final berth and seal second place in Pool B behind India.
The Proteas never looked troubled against the amateurs, setting a 342-run target after being sent into bat then bowling the UAE out for 195.
Captain AB de Villiers continued his dominant form with a man-of-the-match performance to smash 99 off 82 balls, while Farhaan Behardien contributed a rollicking 64 from 31.
Photo: AFP
Seamer Vernon Philander (2-34) also made a successful return from injury, with South Africa’s only negative the continued poor form of opening batsman Quinton de Kock (26).
The win, which sets up a likely quarter-final clash with Sri Lanka in Sydney on Wednesday, will help erase memories of South Africa’s shock loss to Pakistan in their previous Pool B outing.
De Villiers said that his side — the pre-tournament favorites —were confident going into the final eight, despite losses to India and Pakistan in the group stages.
“I’m extremely happy; it’s never a given that you’re going to make the quarter-finals in the World Cup,” he said. “It’s a huge opportunity for us as a team. We’ve got a lot of people back home who we represent and this is the position we want to be in, representing them in a quarter-final knock-out match. We’re very excited.”
The result leaves the UAE winless at the tournament, with their final chance to snatch a victory coming against the West Indies in Napier on Sunday.
UAE captain Mohammad Tauqir surprisingly opted to bowl first on a pitch that appeared perfect for batting, with the decision paying early dividends when Hashim Amla miscued a pull shot to depart on 12.
De Kock and Rilee Rossouw made the most of some wayward bowling in a 68-run partnership, with Rossouw the aggressor as De Kock tried to play himself into form.
However, the youngster’s woes continued when he nicked an edge to the ‘keeper on 26, leaving him with an average of less than eight from his six innings at the tournament.
Rossouw (43) followed three overs later, deceived by a slower ball from Tauqir that he scooped straight back to the bowler.
South Africa were looking unexpectedly shaky at 96-3 and it could have been worse, with David Miller and De Villiers both surviving early scares.
They made the most of their reprieves to bring up 100 off 99 balls, with De Villiers notching his 45th one-day international half-century.
Miller fell just short of his own half-century, clean bowled by Mohammad Naveed on 49 attempting a pull shot.
De Villiers stepped up the pace after being dropped on 65, blasting sixes from consecutive deliveries off Amjad Javed.
Javed had his revenge when he caught De Villiers on 99 as the skipper tried to bring up his century with a flashy boundary.
However, Behardien proved just as destructive as South Africa plundered 25 runs off the UAE’s final over to set up a total that never looked within reach.
The Sharjah-based amateurs lost an early wicket when Andri Berenger (5) fell to a spectacular one-handed diving catch from Rossouw off the bowling of Morne Morkel.
They were not disgraced, with Swapnil Patil grinding out a hard-fought 57 not out and Shaiman Anwar making 39 as the UAE reached 108-4 at one point.
However, the run rate at no point approached the 6.82 an over needed for victory and the match had petered out as a contest long before Kamran Shazad was caught at mid-on in the 48th over.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set