Aiden Markram scored the fastest ever century in ODI World Cup history as South Africa beat Sri Lanka in front of a 15,496 strong crowd at the Feroz Shah Kotla (Arun Jaitley Stadium) in their CWC 2023 opener.
The Proteas, put in by Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka, lost skipper Temba Bavuma early, and were 48/1 at the end of the first ten overs as the Lankan pacers kept things tight. However runs began to flow as both Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen settled in, and Markram’s 49 ball century took them to an imposing 428/5 in their allotted 50 overs (another WC record, beating the previous highest team total made by Australia against Afghanistan back in 2015)
Kusal Mendis gave Sri Lanka a brief glimmer of hope with a stunning 42 ball 76- at one point it looked like he could possibly break Markram’s fastest 100 run record, but once he edged a Rabada delivery to Klaasen behind the stumps, Sri Lanka’s hopes faded. Charith Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka both made half centuries- the former aided by two dropped catches by Van der Dussen and substitute Andile Phehlukwayo, and Sri Lanka managed to cross the 300 mark in their chase to reduce the hit on their NRR.
Marco Jansen went for 2/92 in his 10- although figures don’t do justice to how well he bowled. A more clinical performance in the field might have seen a bigger winning margin for the Proteas, but Temba Bavuma and Rob Walter would be pretty happy, all things considered, with a 100 run victory in their CWC 2023 opener.
