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MOHALI: South Africa crushed the Netherlands by 231 runs in a lop-sided Group B match to record their second successive victory in the World Cup on Thursday.
Put into bat, Hashim Amla (113) and AB de Villiers (134) featured in a marathon 221-run third wicket stand while JP Duminy (40) chipped in with a 15-ball cameo to propel South Africa to a commanding 351-5 at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.
South Africa showed the same business-like approach when they returned to defend the total, removing the Dutch top half by the time they reached the 100-mark and eventually bowling them out for 120 in 34.5 overs.
Only Wesley Barresi (44) provided some resistance with the bat while only four of his Dutch team mates managed double digit scores.
“It’s still early doors but it’s nice to get wins under the belt and keep the confidence going for later on in the tournament,” South African spinner Robin Peterson said.
“Every game has its different challenges, today it wasn’t easy for the batters out there but they showed that once they got stuck in they could churn out a good total.”
If Ireland’s sensational victory against England on Wednesday had rekindled Dutch hopes of pulling off a similar upset, South Africa mercilessly crushed it.
After they had slumped to 58-2 in the 16th over, de Villiers hit his second successive century in the tournament and Amla his eighth overall in the 50-overs format to bail them out.
Amla and his opening partner Graeme Smith (20) found boundaries were not easy to come by against the disciplined Dutch bowlers backed by their agile fielders and laboured to the 50-run mark in the 13th over.
Smith soon lost his leg stump to Bernard Loots while Ryan ten Doeschate (3-72) removed Jacques Kallis (2) cheaply before Amla and de Villiers joined hands to stem the rot.
Amla was content nudging the ball around, hitting eight fours in his 130-ball knock.
De Villiers was more fluent in his brisk 98-ball innings that included 13 fours and four sixes, including three in a row off Loots, before he ran himself out in the 46th over.
Duminy then provided the late flourish, hitting four sixes and a couple of fours, to an already imposing South African total.
