ICC CWC 2023: All-round South Africa thrash England by 229 runs

MUMBAI: 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. Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson provided some entertainment to the crowd, smashing some fours and sixes.

However, Keshav Maharaj cleaned up Gus Atkinson for 35 in 21 balls, with seven fours. Mark was left stranded at 43 in 17 balls, with two fours and five sixes. England was bundled out for 170 in 22 overs, losing by 229 runs.

Coetzee (3/35) was the top bowler for SA. Ngidi and Jansen took two wickets while Maharaj and Rabada took one. Earlier, Reeza Hendricks and Heinrich Klaasen's stunning knock took the Proteas to 399/7 against South Africa in the 20th match of the ODI World Cup 2023 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.

Jos Buttler-led England won the toss against Aiden Markram's South Africa and decided to field first in the game. Quinton de Kock and Dussen opened for the Proteas squad. However, De Kock failed to display a stellar performance and was dismissed in the second ball of the match by Reece Topley for four runs (SA 4-1).

In the first powerplay, South Africa scored 59 runs and the English bowling attack picked up just one wicket. In the 15.6 overs, Aiden Markram's South Africa reached the 100-run mark.

After taking an early wicket in the game, England could not continue their wicket-taking form and their second wicket came in the 19.4 over after Adil Rashid took Dussen's wicket for 60 runs from 61 balls (SA 125-2). Adil Rashid dismissed the dangerous Hendricks in the 25.2 overs for 85 runs from 75 balls (SA 164-3).

Topley bagged an important wicket after he dismissed the Proteas skipper Aiden Markram for 42 runs in the 34.6 overs (SA 233-4). David Miller could not start his hard-hitting performance in the first inning after Topley dismissed him for five runs in 36.3 overs (SA 243-5). In the second powerplay, the Proteas batsmen scored 197 runs and Jos Buttler's side picked up four wickets.

However, in the last few overs of the game, Klaasen displayed one of the most brutal shows in the tournament against England and slammed a ton just from 61 balls in the 46.4 overs. Klaasen smashed 12 fours and four sixes. Marco Jansen also did not leave the chance to make his half-century. Jansen scored 75 runs from 42 balls.

In the final over, English pacer Gus Atkinson picked up two wickets and dismissed Klaasen for 109 runs in the 49.1 over. Atkinson dismissed Gerald Coetzee in the 49.5 overs.

Even though Reece Topley picked up the most wickets among his teammates he also gave away 88 runs in his 8.5-over spell. On the other hand, Atkinson and Adil Rashid bagged two wickets each in their respective spells.