Quinton de Kock scored his second century of the World Cup to help the Proteas to a total of 311 against Australia in Lucknow.
South Africa lost the toss and was sent in to bat first by Australia.
After looking at the wicket, Temba Bavuma at the toss was not too phased by losing the toss. He said that the wicket was a bit uncertain. But the selection of two spinners indicated the Proteas’ thinking that the pitch would offer some turn.
The pitch report indicated that the wicket read as 270 being par on the pitch, but with the form that the Proteas have been in, the aim was to post as many runs on as possible to put the pressure on an Australia side that lost their opener to India.
The Proteas openers took their time to get themselves in on the red-soil wicket, seeing off the initial swing from Mitchell Starc and accuracy from Josh Hazelwood.
Bavuma and De Kock aimed to build a foundation for the middle order, and they did so smartly to bring up 108 before the skipper lost his wicket on 35.
De Kock followed up his performance from the opening game against Sri Lanka, bringing up back-to-back centuries.
Then Markram followed up his performance in the first game after scoring the fastest ton in World Cup history, by scoring 56 off 44 balls. These two performances accounted for the bulk of the runs scored.
Rassie van der Dussen (26) and Heinrich Klaasen (29) both got starts, but Australia were good with their execution to disrupt momentum with wickets at pivotal stages in the game.
At 267-5, the Proteas would have had their eyes set on 300-plus.
Jansen’s 22-ball 26 helped them to 310 and Miller (17) lost his wicket to reduce the Proteas to 311-7 with 3 balls to go.
