ICC World Cup 2023: Quinton de Kock Leads Golden Bat Race, Shaheen Afridi Top in Golden Ball List

South Africa defeated Pakistan by one wicket in a thriller on Friday to edge closer to the semi-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Chasing 271 to win, South Africa reached their target with 16 balls to spare when tailender Keshav Maharaj hit a boundary off spinner Mohammad Nawaz.

South Africa now have five wins and one defeat from six games while Pakistan have lost four matches in succession after winning their first two but remain in semi-final contention. With the win, South Africa climbed to the top of the points table with 10 points and a net run-rate of +2.032, while Pakistan remained in sixth with just four points with an NNR of -0.387.

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Quinton de Kock scored just 24 runs but it was enough for him to stay on top of the leading run scorers list. The South African now has 431 runs from six games as his compatriot Aiden Markram replaced Virat Kohli in second position. Markram now has 356 from six games with Kohli having 354 runs from one less match.

Mohammad Rizwan also pushed down David Warner to fifth as the Pakistan batter now has 333 runs from six matches, while the Aussie opener has scored 332 runs from five games.

India’s Rohit Sharma, South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen and Sri Lanka’s Sadeera Samarawickrama are fifth, sixth and seventh respectively, as New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell close out the top ten in the Cricket World Cup golden bat list.

In terms of the golden ball race, Shaheen Afridi of Pakistan shot to the top of the top wicket-takers list as South Africa’s Marco Jansen also has 13 wickets along with Australia spinner Adam Zampa, who 13 wickets from five games. New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner is fourth with 12 scalps and Gerald Coetzee of South Africa is fifth with 12 wickets.

Sri Lanka’s Dilshan Madushanka is in sixth place and India’s Jasprit Bumrah is seventh with 11 wickets apiece. Pakistan’s Haris Rauf joined New Zealand’s Matt Henry on 10 wickets and are ninth and tenth.