The stunning stats behind South Africa’s dominance
Digital Daily looks at soaring South Africa thumping Bangladesh during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, with former captain Shaun Pollock and ICC Digital Insider Tanvi Shah
South Africa’s massive 229-run victory over England is the biggest margin of victory in terms of runs in the tournament so far.
That is well clear of the second-highest win which South Africa now share following their 149-run triumph over Bangladesh. New Zealand beat Afghanistan by the same margin earlier in the tournament.
Match highlights as South Africa won their ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 encounter against Bangladesh by 149 runs.
South Africa’s thumping win against Bangladesh is their eighth ODI victory by more than 100 runs in 2023 and comes from 10 times they have batted first in their 18 matches.
That ties the all-time record for 100-plus run wins in a calendar year, set by Pakistan in 1999, but has come in 11 fewer matches.
South Africa have now also won nine of the 10 ODIs where they have batted first this year.
Bat first and bat big is South Africa’s ideal game plan, and Tuesday’s match in Mumbai marked the seventh time in consecutive ODIs that they have scored more than 300 when batting first to equal the record held by Australia (2007) and England (2019).
South Africa’s crushing wins over England and Bangladesh in Mumbai mean that they have by far the best net run rate in the competition.
Their current net run rate of +2.370 after five matches is well clear of the next best – New Zealand’s +1.481.
Quinton de Kock’s outstanding 174 is his highest-ever score at an ICC Men's Cricket World Cup and only four runs short of his best individual effort in an ODI.
Only Gary Kirsten has produced a bigger knock for South Africa at a Men’s Cricket World Cup, hitting 188* against UAE in 1996.
Player of the match highlights as Quinton de Kock slammed the highest score so far in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 to star in South Africa's win over Bangladesh
Out of all the recognised batters at the Cricket World Cup nobody has a higher strike rate than Heinrich Klaasen.
The big-hitting number five is the sixth-highest scorer at the tournament so far, and his 288 runs have come at an eye-watering rate of 150.78.
Of the front-line batters at the tournament, only Kusal Mendis (218 at 146.30) and Iftikhar Ahmed (101 at 140.27) come close to matching Klaasen's hitting prowess.
Batting highlights as Heinrich Klaasen lit up the South Africa innings with a spectacular knock in the death overs against Bangladesh at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023
The blitz from De Kock, Klaasen and David Miller saw South Africa score an extraordinary 144 runs in the final 10 overs against Bangladesh.
That tally is the highest score in the final 10 overs of an innings at the tournament so far, bettering the Proteas’ effort against England by a single run.
Quinton de Kock’s three centuries have sent him to the top of the tournament’s run-scoring charts ahead of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Only two players have ever scored more centuries than three at a single ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup – Kumar Sangakkara with four in 2015 and Rohit Sharma with five in 2019.
De Kock could also become the highest individual scorer for South Africa at an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. He currently trails Jacques Kallis’ record of 485 in 2007 by just 78 runs, with four group stage matches and potentially the knockout stages remaining.
The highest-ever individual tally at a Men’s Cricket World Cup stands at 673, scored by Sachin Tendulkar in 2003.