SA eye cleansweep on path to World Cup 2023

A 3-0 result will help South Africa take a giant step towards confirming their place in the 2023 ODI World Cup

Except that the South Africans need all the World Cup Super League points they can lay their hands on to uncomplicate their passage to the tournament in India in October and November. Another win over England, who have gone down in the first two matches of the series, will push them into the top eight who will qualify directly. Two more victories over the Netherlands in the coming weeks would guarantee Temba Bavuma's team that status. Anything less and a qualifier could loom in Zimbabwe in June and July.

South Africa's attack have been pulling off rescue acts since WG Grace was a boy. So there was little surprise when the bowlers won the first match, a day/nighter in Bloemfontein on Friday, after their batters lost their way and fell short of 300 on a decent pitch. But it was the batters who got the job done in a day game at the same ground on Sunday, when Bavuma led the way with a feisty 109 - his finest innings in a South Africa shirt - as the home side successfully chased 343, a record for Bloem. If this team get it together well enough and consistently enough to bat as competitively as they bowl and field, look out.