The Proteas moved back to the top of the table at the ICC Cricket World Cup in India with another clinical display across the board against New Zealand on Wednesday

The Proteas thumped the Black Caps of New Zealand by a massive 190-runs in Pune to virtually guarantee themselves of a spot in the semi-finals.

South Africa had a bat first and scored 358/4 in their 50 overs with Rassie van der Dussen scoring 133-runs, while Quinton de Kock, recorded his fourth century of the World Cup by scoring 114.

The former Knight, David Miller, chipped in with a very handy 53.

The bowlers in their turn also got in on the action as they bowled the Black Caps out for a mere 167-runs.

The seamer Keshav Maharaj was brilliant with 4/46, while the two former Knights seamers, Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee shared five wickets between themselves.

Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen - Cricinfo

The Proteas skipper, Temba Bavuma, said their performance was as perfect as it gets.

“I would say it was a clinical display,” said Bavuma who scored 24-runs.

“With the bat we handled the challenge upfront with the ball that was nipping around. There was a big partnership between Quiny and Rassie that set it up nicely for the boys.

“With the ball, I think there was pressure from ball one and we sustained it throughout the innings. They made a couple of runs there towards the end, but we were fairly happy and it was quite clinical in terms of the execution of our skills.”

De Kock, who is playing in his very last 50-over World Cup is the leading run-scorer at the tournament by a long-shot with 545-runs in 7 innings to date. He has 130 more runs than the second placed Rachin Ravindra of New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Marco Jansen, is now also the joint highest wicket-taker at the World Cup with 16 wickets, which is equal to that of Australia's Adam Zampa and Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi.

Quinton de Kock - Cricinfo

De Kock, who had never scored a World Cup ton before this year, said as his One-Day International winds down, he just wants to spend as much time at the crease as possible.

“I felt like I couldn't get my rhythm, but I got a couple of messages from the guys on the bench telling me to just bat through and just make sure of it, and that's what helped me get there,” said De Kock.

“I'm trying not to give my wicket away as much as I can. I don't really know what it is, but I just want to keep batting.

“I'm just trying to bat for longer because my career in the 50-over format is coming to close, so I'm just trying to occupy the crease for as long as I can until I finish.”

On Sunday the Proteas will face the hosts India at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, which is no doubt a clash of the titans.

In Thursday’s match, India will be back in action when they come up against Sri Lanka in Mumbai. This game at the Wankhede Stadium will get underway at 10:30.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport