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Undefeated New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl at Edgbaston following a 90-minute delay due to a wet outfield. Tight bowling and three jaffas from Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Mitchell Santner put the Proteas on the back foot for much of their innings as they struggled to build a strong total.
A win for New Zealand will move the Black Caps to the top of the standings, while South Africa will be stuck on five points in eighth.
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Teams
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Hashim Amla, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis (c), Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir
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After a soggy outfield delayed the start at Edgbaston and reduced the match to 49 overs per side, Black Caps captain Kane Williamson hoped to take advantage of bowler-friendly conditions.
He was rewarded in just the second over when Trent Boult demolished Quinton de Kock’s stumps, sending him back for just five.
Hashim Amla and skipper Faf du Plessis played some fluent shots as the Proteas recovered to reach 59-1 in the 14th over.
But Lockie Ferguson then produced a yorker to bowl Du Plessis for 23 immediately after a testing bouncer.
Amla and Aiden Markram rebuilt the innings, putting on 52 for the third wicket before veteran opener Amla was bowled by left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner for 55 off 83 balls.
During his innings, Amla became the fourth South African player to reach 8,000 runs in one-day internationals.
He is the second-fastest player (176 innings) from any side to reach the milestone after India’s Virat Kohli (175 innings).
Markram was caught by Colin Munro off Colin de Grandhomme for 38 and South Africa had reached 166-4 at the end of the 39th over, with the Proteas in dire need of increasing their run-rate if they were to set New Zealand a challenging total.
South Africa, who brought in fast bowler Lungi Ngidi for Beuran Hendricks, must win this match if they are to stand a realistic chance of reaching the semi-finals after finally recording their first victory of the tournament, against minnows Afghanistan.
Despite that nine-wicket win, Du Plessis’s side are still languishing in eighth spot in the 10-team table after five games, with the top four qualifying for next month’s semis.
After Wednesday’s game, they will face Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia. New Zealand are flying high and a fourth win would lift the 2015 finalists to the top of the table ahead of matches against West Indies, Pakistan, Australia and hosts England.
Wet weather has caused major disruption at the World Cup, with four no results in which teams shared a point each.
PREVIEW
New Zealand knocked South Africa out of the last two World Cups - the quarterfinals in Dhaka in 2011 and a classic ODI semi-final in Auckland in 2015 where Grant Elliott hit a six off the penultimate ball.
“There’s always been exciting games between New Zealand and South Africa over the past World Cups,” New Zealand seamer Trent Boult said Tuesday.
“The 2015 semi-final at Eden Park was one of the greatest games the Kiwis have played.”
This World Cup has been a struggle for South Africa, not just on the field. Star seamer Dale Steyn was injured and replaced without bowling a ball, and Hashim Amla and valuable quick Lungi Ngidi have also been hurt and sidelined.
Ngidi injured his left hamstring in the second match, and missed the loss to India, the washout with West Indies, and South Africa’s first win last Saturday against Afghanistan.
He’s been passed fit, and is keen to get at New Zealand’s lineup.
“I don’t think their middle and lower order have been tested enough,” he says.
Ngidi hoped to be part of a fearsome pace attack, but in the absence of Steyn and Anrich Nortje, who was injured before the tournament, veteran spinner Imran Tahir has been the leading wicket-taker with eight.
Andile Phehlukwayo and Chris Morris, Nortje’s replacement, have 6 each, and main striker bowler Kagiso Rabada five. Ngidi took his only three in the tournament- opening, 104-run loss to England.
If the wicket is spin-friendly, Tahir ought to be a match-changer for South Africa, though its own batsmen have themselves struggled against spin. While South Africa has three points from five games, New Zealand is in a position of strength with seven points from four games which have varied dramatically.
New Zealand has crushed Sri Lanka, squeaked past Bangladesh, thrashed Afghanistan, and been washed out against India. The players have embraced an 11-day gap between games.
Pacer Lockie Ferguson is in strike mode with 3-22, 1-40 and 4-37 so far, and fast-medium Matt Henry opened with 3-29 and 4-47. The seamer attack includes second-ranked ODI bowler Boult, who said he was not expecting much help from the wicket which looks “pretty light.”
Asked if he was worried about his own performance with only three wickets so far, Boult said he was focusing more on the 30 wickets his team has taken. New Zealand has dismissed every side so far, though India would have been a far tougher test.
Reflecting on the Eden Park classic, Boult said “I remember hoping like heck that I don’t have to bat.”
The 25th game of this World Cup is Edgbaston’s first. The popular venue, where the lively atmosphere often reaches soccer-style levels, hosts five games in total, including the second semi-final on July 11.
Despite the losses, South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock said he was enjoying himself more in 2019, compared to 2015, but knew what was ahead.
“Tomorrow (Wednesday) is a quarterfinal, I guess you could say it, but if we do win it, it’s another big game again,” de Kock said.
“We have to win all the games, not just focus on tomorrow.” De Kock, who shared a first-wicket stand of 104 with Amla against Afghanistan, said he doubted the Kiwis would be over-confident.
“I know them pretty well, a lot of the players. They’re pretty mild people. They’re very athletic people.”