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South Africa made a very solid start in the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup. But the Netherlands stunned the Proteas in their third game. They beat the flying Proteas by 38 runs. However, South Africa have made a strong response and humiliated the defending champions, England, today at Wankhede Stadium. The Proteas defeated the defending champions by a massive 229 runs and have kept their dominance in this World Cup.
As it happened
Josh Buttler, the captain of England, won the toss and opted to bowl first. Initially, it seemed the captain made the right decision as England got an early wicket. In-form batter Quinton de Kock lost his wicket to Reece Topley in the very first over.
But Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen strongly handled the situation and made a brilliant partnership of 121 runs. They scored 85 and 60 runs respectively before losing their wickets.
Captain Aiden Markram also contributed 42 runs to the team. But Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen ruled the British bowlers in the remaining overs. They both were super aggressive between the wickets and tried to hit every ball they faced.
Heinrich Klaasen smashed a devastating century for the Proteas. He scored the highest 109 runs from 67 balls before leaving the pitch. However, Klaasen hit four sixes and 12 fours during his innings.
On the other hand, Marco Jansen was more than aggressive against the English bowlers. With six sixes and three fours, Janses scored an unbeaten 75 runs only from 45 balls. Relying on them, South Africa posted a massive total of 399 runs against England.
Chasing the massive target, England were nowhere near South Africa. They were continuously losing wickets, and their top order collapsed very early. They had gone three wickets down in just 24 runs and seven wickets down in 84 runs.
The Protea bowlers did a fantastic job today to tie up England early. Gerald Coetzee picked up three wickets, while Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen got two. Due to their high aggression, England became all-out in just 170 runs. As a result, South Africa won the match by a massive 229 runs and returned to the winning track.
Buttler on Losing
England’s skipper Josh Buttler shared his thoughts on losing against South Africa in such a poor way. He said, “Incredibly disappointing. We were well beaten. We have come here to play our best cricket. Lots of things didn’t go to plan in the first innings. Reece picked up the injury. The boys fought hard. We could have restricted to 340-350, could have been a good chase.”
