South Africa produced a superb all-round performance to defeat defending champions West Indies by 76 runs in a pulsating encounter at the Bay Oval Stadium here.
Asked to bat first, South Africa rode on an unbeaten run-a-ball 99 by Wandile Makwetu to post 282/8 in their 50 overs.
Pacer Hermann Rolfes then clinched a four-wicket haul as the Proteas dismissed the West Indies for 206 runs in 45.3 overs.
South Africa have thus booked a spot in the next round with four points from two matches. Even if they lose their last group match against hosts and table toppers New Zealand, the Proteas will go through as one of the top two teams.
West Indies' hopes of defending their crown has gone up in smoke as they are out of contention after losing both the matches they have played so far.
The controversial dismissal of South Africa opener Jiveshan Pillay for obstructing the field was one of the biggest talking points of the game.
The incident took place during the 17th over of the South African innings when Pillay stopped the ball from going on to hit the stumps. He then immediately picked up the motionless ball and threw it to West Indies wicket-keeper and captain Emmanuel Stewart, who then appealed.
The on-field officials consulted the third umpire before Pillay was adjudged dismissed as per Law 37.4 of the MCC rules.
The South Africa opener was unlucky to miss out on what would have been a well deserved half-century as he scored a steady 47 runs off 51 balls with five boundaries and a couple of sixes.
Prior to his dismissal, Pillay had produced an opening stand of 56 runs alongwith Matthew Breetzke before the latter fell victim to a superb caught and bowled effort by West Indies pacer Jarion Hoyte.
Hoyte was in the thick of things in the very next over when he produced an accurate throw which hit the stumps to run out a diving Raynard van Tonder who was yet to open his account.
Pillay and Hermann Rolfes then went back in quick succession as the Proteas lost their top four batsmen with less 100 runs on the board.
Another run out sent Jason Niemand back to the pavilion as South Africa tottered at 112/5.
Makwetu and Kenan Smith tried to steady the boat with a 58-run stand. West Indies pacer Nyeem Young bowled Smith to break the partnership.
Gerald Coetzee and Jade de Klerk then produced a couple of quickfire knocks to help South Afirca stage a late comeback and post a strong total.
In reply, the West Indies never really managed to get going as they lost wickets at regular intervals.
A 97-run stand between Alick Athanaze and Kirstan Kallicharan was the only bright spot of the defending champions' innings as five of their batsmen failed to reach double figures.
Athanaze was their highest scorer with a 100-ball knock of 76 runs which contained six hits to the fence and a six.
Kallicharan scored 44 runs off 50 deliveries with five boundaries and a six.
Meanwhile in Christchurch, New Zealand thrashed minnows Kenya by 243 runs.
Asked to bat first, the hosts piled up a massive total of 436/4 thanks to centuries by openers Jakob Bhula and Rachin Ravindra.
Bhula was the top scorer for the Kiwis with 180 runs off 144 balls, with 10 boundaries and five hits into the stands on the way.
Ravindra scored 117 runs with eight boundaries and three sixes studding his 101-ball innings.
The duo put together an opening partnership of 245 runs to bat Kenya out of the game.
Kenya off-spinner Sukhdeep Singh finally broke the partnership in the 36th over when Ravindra was stumped off his bowling.
Finn Allen then scored a quickfire 90 to push home the advantage. Allen hit eight boundaries and six sixes during his 40-ball stay in the middle.
The Kenyan run chase never gathered any real momentum as the Africans lost wickets at regular intervals.
Opener Aman Gandhi was their highest scorer with 63 runs off 106 balls, but the rest of the batsmen were not upto the task.
Brief scores:
South Africa: 282/8 in 50 overs (Kallicharan Makwetu 99, Jiveshan Pillay 47) vs West Indies: 206 (Alick Athanze 76, Alick Kallicharan 44; Hermann Rolfes 4/33).
New Zealand: 436/4 in 50 overs (Jakob Bhula 180, Rachin Ravindra 117, Finn Allen 90) vs Kenya: 193/4 in 50 overs (Aman Gandhi 63; Rachin Ravindra 2/33).
(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
