MOHALI, March 3 (PTI): Contrasting centuries from Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers guided South Africa to a comprehensive 231-run victory over the Netherlands in their Group B match here today.
Put into bat by the Netherlands captain Peter Borren, South Africa overcame an extremely lethargic start before Amla (113, 130 balls, 8X4) and De Villiers (134, 98 balls, 13x4, 4X6) put on 221-run stand for the third-wicket, which paved the way for a facile win.
Incidentally, their partnership was the highest for third wicket for South Africa.
Thereafter, a nice cameo by Jean-Paul Duminy made matters worse for �Oranje Brigade� as his 15-ball 40 helped the Proteas pile up a massive 351 for five in their 50 overs.
The Netherlands batsmen never looked like making a match of it. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals to eventually get bundled out for 120 in 34.5 overs.
Imran Tahir finished with three for 22 from five overs, while Jacques Kallis (2/19) and Robin Peterson (2/22) chipped in with crucial wickets.
Having struggled to find his rhythm earlier, Amla survived a few scares before settling down to bring up his eighth century in ODIs, while De Villiers looked in great form since the time he took the crease as he completed his quickfire hundred to put South Africa in box seat at the PCA Stadium here today.
At his devastating best, De Villiers entertained the handful of spectators as he hit four huge sixes out of which three came off consecutive deliveries of Bernard Loots.
Duminy also joined the party as he smashed 20 runs of the final over of the innings bowled by Ryan ten Doeschate, including two huge straight sixes.
Earlier, Dutch captain Peter Borren invited the Proteas to bat to make use of the wicket under overcast conditions, following a light drizzle yesterday evening.
The Dutch bowlers justified their skipper�s decision as they kept things tight by bowling fuller and also generated a bit of seam movement.
Holland�s new ball bowlers Berend Westdijk and Mudassar Bukhari stuck to a disciplined line and offered very few loose deliveries, as South African captain Graeme Smith and Amla found it difficult to play their free-flowing natural game.
South Africa
Amla c Cooper b Doeschate 113
Smith b Loots 20
Kallis c Barresi b Doeschate 2
De Villiers run out 134
F du Plessis not out 18
Duminy c Borren b Doeschate 40
Morne van Wyk not out 0
Extras: (B-2, LB-5, NB-1, W-16) 24
Total: (for five wickets; 50 overs) 351
Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-58, 3-279, 4-283,
5-349.
Bowling: Bukhari 10-0-44-0, Westdijk 9-0-76-0, ten Doeschate 10-0-72-3, Loots 9-0-60-1, Seelaar 10-0-74-0, Cooper 2-0-18-0.
Netherlands
Alexei Kervezee c & b Kallis 10
Wesley Barresi st Van Wyk b Duminy 44
Tom Cooper c Steyn b Kallis 9
Bas Zuiderent lbw b Peterson 15
Doeschate lbw b Steyn 11
Tom de Grooth run out 12
Peter Borren lbw b Peterson 3
Bukhari b Tahir 0
Pieter Seelaar not out 2
Bernard Loots lbw b Tahir 6
Berend Westdijk lbw b Tahir 0
Extras: (W-8) 8
Total: (all out, 34.5 overs) 120
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-46, 3-81, 4-83, 5-100, 6-109, 7-109, 8-110, 9-120, 10-120.
Bowling: Dale Steyn 6-1-26-1, Morne Morkel 5-0-18-0, Jacques Kallis 6-0-19-2, Imran Tahir 6.5-0-19-3, Robin Peterson 5-0-22-2, JP Duminy 5-0-16-1.
