New Delhi: South Africa announced their intentions in the ODI World Cup in no uncertain manner as they produced a power-packed and record-strewn batting display against Sri Lanka at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Friday.
Asked to bat first by the Lankans, the Proteas amassed 428/5 in their allotted 50 overs to comfortably surpass the previous best World Cup total of 417/6 by Australia eight years ago. Interestingly, South Africa are credited with three of the top 5 totals in World Cup (see list below).
Aiden Markram, who came into bat only in the 31st over after a 204-run partnership between Quinton De Kock and Rassie van der Dussen, raced to a century in just 49 balls – the quickest ever in the 50-over World Cup.
Markram (106 off 54 balls, 14×4, 3×6) became the third centurion in the innings, following in the footsteps of De Kock (100 off 84, 12×4, 3×6) and Van der Dussen (108 off 110, 13×4, 2×6).
It was the first time in World Cup history that three batsmen had notched up hundreds in a single innings.
TOP 5 WORLD CUP TOTALS
428/5 – South Africa vs Sri Lanka (Delhi, 7 Oct 2023)
417/6 — Australia vs Afghanistan (Perth, 4 Mar 2015)
413/5 – India vs Bermuda (Port-of-Spain, 19 Mar 2007)
411/4 — South Africa vs Ireland (Canberra, 3 Mar 2015)
408/5 — South Africa vs West Indies (Sydney, 27 Feb 2015)
FASTEST WORLD CUP CENTURIES
Aiden Markram (SA) – off 49 balls (vs Lanka, 2023)
Kevin O’Brien (Ireland) — off 50 balls (vs England, 2011).
Glenn Maxwell (Australia) – off 51 balls (vs Lanka, 2015).
AB de Villiers (SA) – off 52 balls (vs West Indies, 2015).
Eoin Morgan (England) – off 57 balls (vs Afghanistan, 2019).
