Proteas advance to WC quarters post 146-run humbling of UAE

South Africa have progressed to the World Cup quarterfinal round with an emphatic 146-run win over United Arab Emirates (UAE) in their last Pool B tie on Thursday in Wellington.

Put into bat first, South Africa posted an imposing target of 341 runs, thanks to skipper AB de Villiers' solid 99-run knock.

Quinton de Kock (26) and Rilee Rossouw (43) steadily consolidated the innings after opener Hashim Amla fell cheaply for 12 runs, and built a 68-run partnership for the second wicket.

However, De Kock and Rossouw were dismissed off Amjad Javed and Mohammad Tauqir's deliveries in quick succession.

Subsequently, Man-of-the-Match De Villiers found an able ally in David Miller (49) as the duo steadied the ship to construct a 108-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Following the dismissal of De Villiers and Miller, Farhaan Behardien accelerated the innings as he smacked a brisk 64 not out off just 31 deliveries.

JP Duminy added 23 runs to the total before being trapped lbw by Mohammad Naveed, who made three scalps for UAE.

Chasing the target, UAE were reeling at 45-3 in the 13th over before Shaiman Anwar (39) and Swapnil Patil showed some resilience as the duo built a 63-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Patil remained not out on 57 as other batsmen failed to contribute substantially and eventually were bundled out for 195 runs within 47.3 overs.

Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and De Villiers were the pick of the bowlers for South Africa as they captured two wickets each.

With the win, South Africa finished second in their group behind title holders India and are likely to meet Sri Lanka in the first quarterfinal next Wednesday.