Dominant South Africa thrash lacklustre Australia

Lucknow: South Africa reaffirmed their status as serious contenders as their pacers fired in tandem after Quinton de Kock's blazing century, paving the way for a dominant 134 - run win over Australia in the World Cup here on Thursday.

If de Kock showed his class with a masterful 109 off 106 balls to take the Proteas t o 311/7, the fast bowlers were at their ruthless best, bundling Australia for 177 in 40.5 overs for their second consecutive win.

The South Africans entered this game after a comprehensive victory in their opener against Sri Lanka.  Australia, on the other hand, bowled without a plan, looked equally clueless with the bat -- losing wickets in clumps -- and were sloppy on the field, dropping as many as five catches. The loss will severely dent their confidence.

They were also outplayed by India in their opener and sit second last in the 10-team table. De Kock, who will retire from the format after the World Cup, oozed confidence while scoring his second consecutive century with the help of eight boundaries and five maximums while Aiden Markram smashed 56 off 44 to help the team post the highest ODI total in Lucknow.

The South African quicks were relentless with the new ball and bowled with accuracy to essentially finish off the match before the 18th over of the Australian innings, with Pat Cummins' side tottering at 70/6.

Lungi Ngidi (1/18) set the tone with some incisive bowling. Marco Jansen (2/54) backed Nigidi and reaped the benefit as he removed Mitchell Marsh (7) without much trouble. David Warner looked to get going but Ngidi struck for a wicketmaiden seventh over. Kagiso Rabada (3/33) joined the party with the vital strikes of Steve Smith (19) and Josh Inglis (5) off consecutive overs. As the ball hit Smith's pad Rabada looked unsure, but de Kock insisted on appealing.

To South Africa's delight and Smith's disbelief, the umpire was forced to change his decision as the ball tracking technology showed it was hitting the leg stump. (PTI)