Klaasen stars as South Africa hammer England
Heinrich Klaasen’s outstanding century and a splendid performance by South Africa’s bowlers led to a massive 229-run victory over defending champions England in the 20th match of the ICC World Cup at Mumbai’s Wankhede Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
England faced an early setback in the high-stakes World Cup match against South Africa as they crumbled to 38-4.
Ben Stokes, England’s dependable all-rounder, returned to the squad following a hip injury that had kept him out for the initial three games of the tournament.
However, playing solely as a batters, Stokes could only contribute one boundary in his brief eight-ball stay at the crease. In the ninth over, he was caught and bowled by fast bowler Kagiso Rabada.
The South African team piled up an imposing 399-7, marking the highest total ever conceded by England in a one-day international match.
Not a single English batter could hold their nerves and fell badly in front of the devastating Proteas’ bowling attack as three of their four top-order batters — Dawid Malan, Joe Root and Ben Stokes — failed to score in double digits.
Wood emerged as the top scorer for England with 43 runs as the entire English side was sent back to the pavilion for just 170 runs after losing wickets in quick succession.
All of the South African bowlers — Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jensen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj and Gerald Coetzee — wreaked havoc on the English batters and sent them all back to the pavilion.
Earlier in the day South Africa — batting first — posted a massive 399-run total courtesy of a formidable batting display of their top and middle order.
Despite losing an early wicket of Quinton de Kock for just four runs in the first over, the Proteas did not falter and continued to play with an attacking mindset as Reeza Hendricks and Russie van der Dussen built an important 121-run partnership.
The remaining damage to the English bowlers was done by the 151-run stand between Klaasen and Marco Jensen.
Klaasen scored a rapid century, scoring 109 runs off just 67 delivers with 16 boundaries while Jensen contributed 75 runs off just 42 delivers, which included a blistering knock of nine boundaries.
For England, Reece Topley picked three wickets while Gus Atkinson and Adil Rashid bagged two each but it was not enough in front of the destructive Proteas batting.
South Africa will now play Bangladesh on October 24 at the same venue while England will take on Sri Lanka in Bengaluru on October 26.
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