by Michael Emons, BBC Sport
South Africa moved into the World Cup quarter-finals with a routine 146-run victory over United Arab Emirates.
Proteas captain AB de Villiers top scored and was dismissed on 99 after useful contributions from Rilee Rossouw (43) and David Miller (49).
Farhaan Behardien blasted 64 off 31 balls to take South Africa to 341-6, a total UAE never looked like reaching.
Swapnil Patil scored an unbeaten 57 and Shaiman Anwar made 39 but UAE were bowled out for 195 in 47.3 overs.
The victory means South Africa, who have never reached a World Cup final, will finish second in Pool B and, barring shock results, will probably face Sri Lanka in the quarter-final in Sydney on 18 March.
South Africa dominated against a UAE side that has never beaten a Test-playing nation in a World Cup but who surprisingly opted to bowl first after winning the toss.
That decision backfired as South Africa made the eighth highest total of the tournament with De Villiers again leading the way.
He scored the fastest 150 in one-day cricket off 64 balls on his way to an unbeaten 162 against the West Indies earlier in the World Cup and hit six fours and four sixes in his 82 ball-knock on Thursday.
However, he missed out on his 21st ODI century when he sliced the ball to short third man Amjad Javed off Kamran Shazad’s bowling. De Villiers then showed his ability with the ball, taking 2-15 from three overs.
“It’s never just a given you are going to make the quarter-finals of the World Cup, we have a lot of people we are representing back home and we have a great opportunity,” said De Villiers.
“They made it difficult so I was very happy with the way we fought, which is what I want to see as a captain.”
The only disappointment for South Africa was another failure from opening batsman Quinton de Kock, who made an unconvincing 26 off 45 balls before being caught behind. He has only scored 53 runs in their six pool games.
In reply, UAE struggled to cope with the pace of the South African attack, as both Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander claimed two wickets each.
The associate side fell to 45-3, although Patil and Anwar gave their score some respectability. With Fahad Alhashmi unable to bat after suffering a knee injury while bowling, Patil was left unbeaten on 57 as UAE suffered their fifth successive defeat.
Despite another loss, UAE captain Mohammad Tauqir was pleased with his side’s performance. He said: “We bowled well until 44-45 overs when things went a bit wrong. We almost batted 50 overs which is very positive for our batters.
“It has given us a lot of confidence, they have some amazing bowlers. There is a huge difference between our domestic level and this level so the more we play against these nations, the better it is for our cricket.”
