England's Joe Root, Who scored 83 from 44 balls, says England will do even better in the tournament

Batting first on Friday, the South Africans made what looked to be a winning score (229/4 in 20 overs), thanks to half-centuries each from Hashim Amla, Jean-Paul Duminy and Quinton de Kock. 

But England made light of their chase as opener Jason Roy slammed 43 off 16 balls after which Root came up with his match-winning 83 off 44 balls that guided England to 230/8 in 19.4 overs at the Wankhede Stadium. 

“That was a very positive result for us. Obviously in the halfway stage we were up against it but the fact that we can pull off performances like that with the bat will give us a lot of confidence as we go further in the group stages and in the tournament as well,” Root said at the post-match press conference here. 

Root pointed out that the start given by openers was crucial when chasing such a big total. 

Openers Roy and Alex Hales raced off to 48 in just 2.3 overs when England began their chase. 

“We have always got a chance in this format of the game with the quality of players we got in our dressing room there. We knew that we have depth in our batting and if we get a good start which we did, we are more than capable of winning that game. Without that start that would have been difficult for us, the guys did a fantastic job,” he said. 

Yet, the 25-year-old batsman is not convinced England is yet to produce its best performance though it chased down 230. 

“The best thing about today is that it wasn’t our complete performance as we didn’t play our absolutely best and we can still win a game chasing down a total like that,” he said. 

“So that will give the squad a massive performance going further into the tournament, regardless be it with bat or ball. Hopefully this will give us a momentum to go through into the group stage.” 

The talented England batsman rated his knock as his best in the shortest format of the game, considering it came in the World T20. 

“Definitely it was the best performance for me in this format of the game and to do it in a World Cup it is very special for me personally. So I can’t wait to get back to the dressing room and celebrate with the boys,” Root said.