The Proteas recorded back-to-back wins at the Cricket World Cup in India on Wednesday with a convincing 134-run win over Australia in Lucknow.

The win moved the Proteas to the top of the table and while it is still very early in the competition, it was an important win to build on the momentum and give the team a lot of confidence going forward.

Australia won the toss in Lucknow and invited South Africa to have a bat first.

The Proteas scored 311/7 in their 50-overs thanks to a brilliant 109 by Quinton de Kock, while Aiden Markram scored 56. De Kock’s ton was his second on the bounce after scoring 100 against Sri Lanka in Delhi on Saturday.

In reply, Australia was bowled out for 177-runs in 40.5 overs with Kagiso Rabada taking 3/33 in 8-overs, while Keshav Maharaj took 2/30 in 10-overs.

The Klerksdorp-born Marnus Labuschagne was the only Australian batter to trouble the scorers with his knock of 46-runs.

The seamer Mitchell Starc scored 27-runs while the captain, Pat Cummins, scored a handy 22, but it was certainly not enough against the clinical and confident Proteas bowling unit.

There was some drama regarding Steve Smith’s (19) lbw decision as well as the caught behind decision of the allrounder, Marcus Stoinis (5), but on both occasions the third umpire gave the batters out following a review by the Proteas. On both occasions Rabada was the bowler.

Speaking after the win, Rabada, said while it is still early in the World Cup, they are just looking to play their best cricket at the minute and improve with each and every game.

“We're just looking to play our best cricket whenever we play a game. We're not worried about what statements we're making. We're only worried about the plans that we want to execute.

“We're still a long way away but there are plenty of positives to take. So that's a good thing but we're looking to rock up the next game.

“Like I said, we'll see how we feel we want to improve, look at our strengths, look at our weaknesses and look to brush up. But generally, I think we played nearly the perfect game of cricket.

“So, it's just about leaving this behind once we leave that behind and focus on the next game, that's it.”

The Proteas next game is on Tuesday when they face the Netherlands in Dharamsala.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport