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A promising 2023 World Cup campaign ended in yet another semi-final heartbreak for South Africa as they went down to Australia by three wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.
Temba Bavuma and company were touted to make their maiden ODI World Cup final on the back of a stellar run in the league phase, having won seven out of their nine matches to finish second.
However, Australia were just too powerful on the day even as the South Africans put on a fight and looked to make a fist of a modest 212. Their catching wasn't quite up to the mark though even as Tabraiz Shamsi and Gerald Coetzee bowled their hearts out.
This now means that India and Australia will battle it out for the 2023 World Cup crown at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Looking back at their campaign, South Africa have a lot of reasons to be happy about, particularly given how their batters stood tall and blazed away on a regular basis.
As their 2023 World Cup run comes to a close, let's look back at the five best batting displays by a South African batter in the tournament:
#5 Rassie van der Dussen - 76* vs Afghanistan,
Ahmedabad
You don't often say that a batter who has amassed 448 runs at an average of 49.77 with two fifties and two hundreds to his name to have flown under the radar. Yet, that's how it has been with Rassie van der Dussen at the 2023 World Cup.
South Africa's No. 3 proved to be the glue around whom the others went big. The team's chasing frailties were on display against Afghanistan in Ahmedabad, having found themselves in a spot of bother at 139/4 in pursuit of 245.
However, van der Dussen was his usual calm self as he blunted Afghanistan's four-man spin attack and maneuvered the ball around to keep the scoreboard ticking along steadily. After a handy 43-run partnership with David Miller, he continued to steer things in the company of Andile Phehlukwayo, who was playing his first game of the tournament.
Van der Dussen took it deep as he notched up a solid fifty to keep the bowlers at bay. It was a top quality effort on a pitch that had some assistance for the spinners and his unbeaten 76 off 95 deliveries ensured that South Africa faced no further hiccups, sealing a five-wicket win.
#4 Aiden Markram - 106 vs Sri Lanka, Delhi
South Africa's 2023 World Cup opener against Sri Lanka was as good a marker as any of what was to come from their batters in the tournament. Having been asked to bat first at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the Proteas rode on stellar centuries from Quinton de Kock and van der Dussen on a belter of a track.
Aiden Markram came to the middle when the score read 214/2, and what followed was carnage of the most aesthetic kind. Not too many batters make the job look as easy and elegant as Markram does, and with his intent to push the scoreboard forward evident, the right-handed batter laced his way to a brisk half-century before upping the tempo even further.
His slices over the cover point region in particular stood out even as he tore into a hapless Matheesha Pathirana. Just like that, he butchered the then fastest ODI World Cup ton off just 49 deliveries before Glenn Maxwell snatched it from him at the very venue a few weeks later.
Markram's 54-ball 106 saw South Africa whip up 428/5 - comfortably the highest total in the history of the competition as the Proteas began their 2023 World Cup campaign with a 102-run win.
#3 Quinton de Kock - 174 vs Bangladesh, Mumbai
Another batting paradise at the Wankhede Stadium and this time, it was the in-form Quinton de Kock who put Bangladesh's bowlers to the sword. The swashbuckling opener was on his final ODI assignment and having begun with back-to-back hundreds earlier on, he was in the mood for more.
Bangladesh struck early to remove Reeza Hendricks and van der Dussen in the first powerplay before de Kock and Markram put the innings back on track. While Markram took his time and played second fiddle, de Kock fancied his chances whenever the ball was in his zone as he pulverized the bowlers at will.
The Mumbai heat didn't deter him from waltzing his way to a third century of the tournament and he threatened to double it that very day. Hasan Mahmud finally brought his masterclass to a close on 174 off 140 deliveries, with the knock studded with 15 fours and seven maximums.
South Africa posted 382/5 and a fourth win in five games at the 2023 World Cup was all but a mere formality thereafter.
#2 David Miller - 101 vs Australia, Kolkata
Heading into the second semi-final of the 2023 World Cup, David Miller hadn't lit up the tournament to the extent most of his colleagues had. But he showed just why he's built different for the big occasion when he rescued South Africa from the abyss against Australia at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The Proteas were reduced to rubble as Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood used the conditions on offer to the fullest. At 24/4, Miller had a massive task on hand but he dug in and treated the good deliveries with respect before clobbering anything in his arc like only he can.
Adam Zampa dished out a couple in the slot after the rain break and both were hoisted over the mid-wicket fence. The crowd had a lot coming their way as anything too full was duly dispatched before Miller pierced the gaps off the fast-bowlers to maximize the lightning-quick Eden Gardens outfield.
He ran out of partners despite useful partnerships with Heinrich Klaasen and Gerald Coetzee but carried on until the 48th over, heaving a short delivery into the stands to raise the first ever World Cup hundred in a knockout game by a Proteas batter.
If not for his lone battle that saw him score 101 off 116 deliveries, South Africa's slim hopes would have been null and void. It was comfortably one of the greatest World Cup innings that unfortunately came in a losing cause.
#1 Heinrich Klaasen - 109 vs England, Mumbai
There was intense buzz and excitement around Heinrich Klaasen ahead of the 2023 World Cup. Not just for the kind of form he had shown in the lead-up to the tournament but also for his incredible ability to blitz sixes at will, particularly against spin.
Klaasen was at his marauding best against England at the Wankhede Stadium and produced an innings for the ages after South Africa entered the game having tasted a shock defeat at the hands of the Netherlands. He walked in at 164/3 in the 26th over with England looking to pull things back on a batting paradise, battling the sweltering heat in the process.
Klaasen made the defending champions rue their decision at the toss though. He started confidently but was thrown a fresh challenge when South Africa lost their fifth wicket in the 37th over and didn't have much batting to follow. A period of consolidation saw Klaasen and Marco Jansen take it easy before choosing the apt moment to tee off.
And then, Klaasen was unstoppable. No matter who the bowler was, his only intention was to hoist the ball into the stands. A monstrous display of batting followed despite the humidity sapping the wind out of him. One of the most iconic moments of the game saw him floored by a searing Mark Wood yorker, rendering him tired as he stood with a lot of difficulty.
One reckoned he was done in terms of energy but batting in the 90s, he launched the very next delivery a mile over long on before pulling the one right after to the fence to reach his hundred as he let out a huge roar in Wood's face.
Klaasen was finally bowled for a 67-ball 109 as he forged a 151-run partnership with Marco Jansen, who blasted an unbeaten 75 off 42 balls himself.
As it turned out, it was England who had all confidence sapped out of them as they were asked to chase 400 but could only muster 170.
Which of these knocks by a South African batter at the 2023 World Cup was your favorite? Have your say in the comments section below!
