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A fiery century by Heinrich Klaasen and then an all-out attack by pacers helped South Africa secure a 229-run win over defending champions England in their ICC Cricket World Cup match at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium here on Saturday.
This is England's biggest loss in ODIs and second-biggest loss in CWC history. South Africa is at third spot with six points, three wins and a loss. England is at ninth spot with three losses and only one win. In the chase of 400, the opening duo of Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan started off with some attacking intent required for a mammoth chase like this. However, the scoreboard pressure started setting in soon, as Bairstow top-edged a delivery straight into Rassie Van Der Dussen's hands, giving Lungi Ngidi a wicket. Bairstow was gone for 10 and England was 18/1 in 2.3 overs. It was then turn of Marco Jansen to strike gold with his pace, removing accumulators like Dawid (6) and Joe Root (2) for single-digit scores, leaving England with very little chance of laying down a solid partnership. Even the returning Ben Stokes was caught and bowled by Kagiso Rabada for just five. England had sunk to 38/4 in 8.1 overs. England crossed the 50-run mark in 8.5 overs. Harry Brook and skipper Jos Buttler offered some brief entertainment, hitting some boundaries and sixes to up the attack. However, speedster Gerald Coetzee did not let the boundary-fest last for too long, getting Buttler caught behind by Quinton de Kock for 15 and trapping Brook lbw for just 17. England was left struggling at 68/6 in 11.3 overs. Coetzee continued to run through the English line-up, removing Adil Rashid for 10 after he was caught by Reeza Hendricks. England was 84/7 in 15.1 overs. England reached the 100-run mark in 16.2 overs. Ngidi took his second wicket, removing David Willey for just 12 after being caught by Rabada at mid-off. England was 100/8 in 16.3 overs.
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