South Africa made a poor start to their ICC World Cup 2019 campaign as they went down against England by 104 runs at the Kennington Oval in London. Following their humiliating defeat, Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis credited England saying that the hosts outplayed them in all the three departments.
Du Plessis credits England’s batting
Batting first, England managed to post 312 runs on the board with half-centuries from Jason Roy, Eoin Morgan, and Ben Stokes. South Africa made a good start by England managed to stick with good partnerships in the middle-order. Stokes, who was out of form, stood up at the right moment playing a match-defining knock after Lungi Ngidi shook the England batting.
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South Africa didn’t look like they will chase down the target and after an outstanding opening spell from Jofra Archer, they were out of the match in the first ten overs. Liam Plunkett chipped in the middle overs while Ben Stokes all-round show helped them seal a 104-run victory. Speaking at the end of the game, Faf du Plessis credited the England team for putting up a good team effort. He especially mentioned about England’s batting which showed why they are the best in the business right now.
“I think we have been outplayed in all three departments. Basically, we were 3 down in 12 overs and I think we were looking for 330-340 but when we took the pace off we thought 300 was par. It was a plan. We wanted to target those two openers with leg spin, especially Roy. It worked today.
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The batting was really good. They are a top-quality team and they showed that with the bat today. You need a bit of momentum in the first two games,” du Plessis said at the end of the game.
Furthermore, Faf du Plessis said that Hashim Amla is doing fine and there is no doubt over his availability. Notably, Amla took a blow on the helmet from a Jofra Archer delivery and had to retire hurt. However, he returned to the ground after the dismissal of Rassie van der Dussen but couldn’t take his side home.
“He is okay now and when he came back to the dressing room, he looked fine and hopefully that’s a good sign for the next game,” du Plessis concluded.
