After being set 400 to win, South Africa dismissed England for 170, resulting in Jos Buttler’s team suffering a record 229-run defeat in ODIs; after suffering their third loss in 4 World Cup matches, England may need to win all 5 of their remaining matches, including against Australia and India, in order in order to advance to the semi-finals.
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Quick Recap: England vs South Africa
After losing by a record 229 runs to South Africa on what was considered one of the most horrific white-ball nights in their history, England’s chances of defending effectively the Cricket World Cup appear to be in shreds. Jos Buttler’s team lost by 399 runs in a hot Mumbai ODI match thanks to Heinrich Klaasen (109 runs off 67 balls) and Marco Jansen (75 not out off 42 balls).
The defending champions collapsed to 68-6 in 12 overs and 170 all out in 22, with Ben Stokes, making his first appearance of the tournament after recovering from a hip strain, being caught and bowled for five.
An Enormous Number of Runs from South Africa
There is still hope for England to make the semi-finals despite suffering their third loss in four matches, which is worse than their 221-run thrashing against Australia in an ODI last year.
However, the manner of the thrashing against South Africa may be difficult to overlook, as their performance was reminiscent of the out-of-date rabble who were knocked out in the group stage of the 2015 World Cup, rather than the limited-overs innovators that they have become since.
Mark Wood (43 not out off 17 balls) and Gus Atkinson (35 not out off 21 balls) smashed 70 runs off just 32 balls in the last over to help England avoid an even larger defeat.
Reece Topley’s finger injury he got in the field rendered him incapable of batting as spinner Keshav Maharaj wiped up Atkinson, effectively ending the game.
A Crumbling England
After deciding to bowl, England’s heavily altered lineup (Stokes, David Willey, and Atkinson replacing Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, and Sam Curran) celebrated an early wicket when Topley nicked off Quinton de Kock on the second delivery after being hit for four on the first.
Topley and Willey contained Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen during the powerplay, and South Africa’s score of 29-1 after seven overs was an enormous leap over recent games, in which permeable spells from Woakes and Curran—which led to their eventual benching—allowed opponents to get off to fast starts.
Topley left the park for a while after getting hit in the fingers, and Willey started stumbling around Van der Dussen and Hendricks.
Despite Wood and Atkinson smashing 14 boundaries between them, with Wood contributing five sixes as he returned some of the abuse he had experienced earlier from South Africa’s batters, England’s World Cup hopes have been dashed.
Player of the Match: Heinrich Klaasen
The Proteas scored the second-highest total in the tournament thanks to a 151-run partnership between Klaasen and Jansen, who played with England’s pace and spin. After fellow South African Aiden Markram’s 100 off 48 balls against Sri Lanka, Klaasen became the fourth player in World Cup history to score a century. In total, he smashed 12 fours and 4 sixes.
Klaasen was unable to run very far because he was sweating excessively in the severe humidity and his muscles were cramping. Despite this, South Africa was able to score 143 runs in the last 10 overs thanks to the amazing power-hitting of Klaasen and Jansen, who smashed 15 fours and 10 sixes during their stand.
Score: England v South Africa
| England | 170 | 22 overs |
| South Africa | 399/7 | 50 overs |
| South Africa won by 229 runs | ||
Knowing they would likely have to win each of the subsequent 5 games, including matches against red-hot favorites India and a rebounding Australia, Buttler’s side must now somehow rally for Thursday’s meeting with Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, South Africa looked every bit the World Cup contenders as they recovered from their shocking loss to the Netherlands in their previous match, displaying the same dominant form they had displayed in their earlier victories over Sri Lanka and Australia.
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