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England captain Jos Buttler has taken his share of the blame for a historically bad defeat against South Africa, accepting he made a mistake by fielding first in the oppressive heat and humidity of Mumbai.
Things could hardly have gone worse for the defending champions, whose World Cup campaign is rapidly disappearing over the cliff edge after three losses in four, with the Proteas running away with a 229-run win.
That was England’s heaviest ever defeat in terms of runs, while South Africa’s score of 7-399, featuring a glorious 61-ball hundred from Heinrich Klaasen, was a second undesired record.
Buttler decided to send the opposition in under fiercely exacting conditions, with the temperature peaking at 36 degrees and exacerbated by high humidity.
“I think you always reflect after games and question your decisions,” Buttler said.
“With hindsight, with the physicality of that innings, potentially batting first would have been a better decision. It’s a decision I took at the time. I thought it was the right one.
The reaction has been typically swift and scathing from the UK media.
In The Times, chief cricket correspondent Simon Wilde said “the sheer timidity with which they carried themselves bore no resemblance to what we have seen in the past.”
“In a startlingly short span, they have gone from a team of audacious ideas to one with no idea whatsoever,” he wrote. “This line-up looked the shakiest yet. Where they turn next, heaven only knows.”
At the Telegraph, Tim Wigmore described this loss as the end of England’s reign as the world’s best white-ball nation.
“First, England conceded their highest-ever ODI score; then, they backed it up with their highest-ever margin of defeat. For the first men’s side to hold both ODI and T20 World Cups in tandem here was more history-making, just of altogether less-wanted variety.
“England now face being just the second defending champions, after Australia in 1992, to be eliminated from the World Cup in the first round. England could progress to the semi-finals with six wins, as they did in 2019. But increasingly such suggestions feel as fantastical as winning the lottery.”
Writing for the Mail on Sunday, Lawrence Booth was blunt: “This was an absolute stinker of a performance.
“Mathematically, they retain a slim chance of reaching next month’s semi-finals. Realistically, they look cooked – almost literally after Jos Buttler made the bizarre decision to field first in Mumbai’s sapping heat and humidity.”
Buttler has had to front up after a hat-trick of unimpressive outings so far, with a nine-wicket hammering by New Zealand and a shock defeat at the hands of unfancied Afghanistan already on the ledger.
“It certainly leaves us in a tough position. There’s no room for error from here on in,” he acknowledged.
“It’s going to be incredibly difficult. We haven’t left ourselves any margin from this point in. But we’ll keep the belief. We’ll sit down and go again. That’s all you can do in this situation.”
Star all-rounder Ben Stokes made his return from a hip injury but did not bowl and made just five with the bat.
Klaasen, despite clearly struggling in the stifling conditions, finished with 109 from 67 balls and put on 151 in 76 deliveries for the sixth wicket with allrounder Marco Jansen (75 not out from 42 balls), the highest run-rate in a 150-run stand in the history of the men’s World Cup.
“I had to dig really, really deep there. I didn’t have any energy left,” said Klaasen.
Ben Stokes at Wankhede Stadium. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
“My partner Marco played a big part of that. He told me that he’s got me and that I’m not allowed to walk off the field if I don’t score 100.
“It was like just breathing in hot air. Every time you try to run it’s just sapping more and more energy and then at the end of the day your body just doesn’t want to work with you anymore. It was just like almost running in a sauna for the whole innings.
“But you’ve got to dig deep for your country as well, I’ve worked my whole life for it, so it’s a great moment.”
England’s reply never got going as they slipped to 6-68 before a late rally from Mark Wood (43 not out) and Gus Atkinson (35) put on 70 for what proved to be the last wicket, with injured Reece Topley not able to bat.
For South Africa, Reeza Hendricks, in the side for ill captain Temba Bavuma, made an eye-catching 85 from 75 balls and put on 121 with Rassie van der Dussen (60 from 61 balls) for the second wicket.
Markram added 42 while David Miller managed only five before Topley (3-88) removed both batters.
Klaasen and Jansen then went on the attack as South Africa scored 143 in the last 10 overs of the innings to record the highest total ever against England at a World Cup.
Topley, England’s leading wicket-taker at this tournament, is set to miss the remainder of the World Cup campaign with a broken finger while Jofra Archer has already been ruled out as a potential replacement.
Archer, one of England’s 2019 world champions, linked up with the squad earlier this week but he has not played competitively since May and is not seen as a viable option.
His arrival in India was instead being viewed as a check in with medical staff as he continues his long recovery from a stress fracture of the right elbow.
Archer will be leaving the country again shortly, while other options are weighed up.
“We’re still waiting to confirm about Reece’s finger, it looks like it’s a crack, that’s an early diagnosis,” England’s Australian head coach Matthew Mott told Sky Sports.
“It’s highly likely there’s a fracture there, which would make it difficult for him to keep playing. Jofra Archer is not going to be considered for selection. He’s reported to the medical staff and he’s not going to be able to play a part in this campaign.”
Topley was struck on the index finger of his bowling hand attempting to block a drive in his follow through, reacting with anger as he left the field for treatment.
His career has been blighted by injury problems and he missed England’s triumphant T20 World Cup win in Australia last year after tripping on a boundary sponge on the eve of the competition.
Topley did return courageously to the attack despite the probability of a fracture, playing through the pain to dismiss Aiden Markram and David Miller. But he was clearly unable to control the ball as normal and took some big hits in conceding 3-88 from 8.5 overs.
Durham’s Brydon Carse is an option should England look to replace Topley with another pace bowler, but there is no compulsion to go like-for-like in terms of replacements.
Sri Lanka have beaten the Netherlands by five wickets with 10 balls to spare to become the final team to claim a hard-fought victory at the World Cup and they had Sadeera Samarawickrama’s unbeaten 91 to thank.
Chasing 263 to win on Saturday, Samarawickrama enabled Sri Lanka to prevail with his patient knock off 107 balls, adding to his century against Pakistan, as they wrapped up the contest in the 49th over.
The Netherlands had won the toss and opted to bat first but were soon on the back foot after Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers Kasun Rajitha and Dilshan Madushanka ran through the top and middle order.
The European side were reeling at 6-91 when Australian-raised skipper Scott Edwards was sent back to the pavilion by Maheesh Theekshana, but Sybrand Engelbrecht (70) and Logan van Beek (59) rescued the Dutch side with a 130-run partnership.
The pair rotated strike and guided the team to a competitive total but were bundled out for 262 in the final over as Rajitha and Madushanka finished with four wickets each.
In response, Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka laid the foundation for their chase with a knock of 54 that included nine boundaries but Aryan Dutt contained them with three wickets, dismissing Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis cheaply.
Sri Lanka now have two points from four games, with the Netherlands also on two points but they’re eighth in the table with a better run-rate than both Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.
with AAP
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