Heinrich Klaasen on Saturday made a brilliant Cricket World Cup century as South Africa thrashed England by a mammoth 229 runs in Mumbai, India, to leave the champions’ title defense hanging by a thread as they suffered a record defeat in a one-day international (ODI).
Klaasen made 109, despite being repeatedly troubled by a cramp, as South Africa, sent into bat, posted a colossal 399-7 — the highest total conceded by England at this level.
England then collapsed to 68-6 and were 170-9, with 28 overs left, when the match ended, with last man Reece Topley unable to bat following a potentially tournament-ending hand injury acquired while bowling.
Photo: AFP
This crushing loss was England’s heaviest ODI defeat following a 221-run reverse against Australia at Melbourne in 2002.
Klaasen received brilliant support from Marco Jansen in a sixth-wicket stand of 151 in just 77 balls.
Jansen finished on 75 not out — his maiden ODI fifty — having struck three fours and six sixes.
He then followed up with two early wickets in his more familiar role of left-arm quick.
“That 100 is up there with my best ever,” player-of-the-match Klaasen said at the presentation ceremony.
“The conditions were brutal. It’s proper heat and saps the energy out of you,” he added.
Not even Ben Stokes, playing his first game of the tournament, could rescue England this time, with the talisman caught and bowled by Kagiso Rabada for just five.
England’s third defeat in four games, including a shock loss to Afghanistan last time out, left them with a mountain to climb to reach the semi-finals, with skipper Jos Buttler saying: “It leaves us with no room for error.”
“We probably have to win every other game we play from here on, and that’s the situation we’re in,” Buttler said.
Earlier, big-hitting Klaasen struck a six and a four off successive deliveries from fast bowler Mark Wood to complete a 61-ball century.
He was eventually bowled out by Gus Atkinson in the last over, having struck 12 fours and four sixes in total.
A resounding victory was just what South Africa needed after their stunning loss to the Netherlands, a non-Test nation.
“The defeat to the Netherlands was a tough loss, but one defeat does not make a bad team,” said Klaasen. “This was a fantastic performance.”
The Proteas ran riot as they scored 143 off the last 10 overs after losing the toss.
Topley took three wickets but conceded 88 runs in 8.5 overs, with express quick Wood going for 76 in a wicketless seven overs.
“We came here with high hopes, we wanted to play our best cricket, but we were well short of that and were really well beaten in the end,” Buttler said.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS