LAHORE (Kashmir English): New Zealand earned a convincing victory over South Africa after an all-round performance in Lahore, securing their place in the ICC Champions Trophy final against India, set to take place in Dubai on March 9.
Chasing a mammoth 363-run target, South Africa’s batting unit succumbed to scoreboard pressure and ended their inning at 312/9 in their allotted overs despite David Miller’s blitz at the backend.
The Proteas got off to a shaky start to their innings as opening batter Ryan Rickelton (17) was dismissed by Matt Henry in just the fifth over with 20 runs on the board.
Once Rickelton departed, Bavuma (56) and van der Dussen (69) put on a 105-run stand for the second wicket to keep South Africa in the hunt until New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner removed his South African counterpart in the 23rd over.
Following the early hiccup, in-form van der Dussen joined Bavuma in the middle and launched recovery.
Markram and Miller played their part as well, but once Klaasen went, it was just a matter of when as New Zealand applied the squeeze.
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