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South Africa thrashed the World Champions England by 229 runs to hand them their biggest loss in the history of ODI World Cups on Friday, October 21. After piling a colossal total of 399/7 at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, South Africa bowled out reigning champions for a paltry 170.
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England suffered their third defeat in four games, with prior losses coming at the hands of New Zealand and Afghanistan.
The embarrassing loss against South Africa left England skipper Jos Buttler shattered and heartbroken. In the post-match press conference Buttler rued the nightmarish loss and said," Incredibly disappointing. Come in with hopes of playing well but we were short of that and were well beaten. Changes weren't as big an issue. Throughout the first innings, lots of things didn't go to plan. Topley got injured, we were unsure whether he'd come back or not and get a few overs in, that kind of stuff. It was a tough 50 overs. Thought if we'd restricted them in 340-350 on this pitch, it'd have been a good chase but they got away. Bowling first is potentially a mistake.”
“You always look back on the decisions you make. Incredibly tough conditions with heat, etc, you saw that with the boys in the field. Potentially should've batted due to the heat. Conditions were extremely tough. The humidity, cramps and all other challenges were tough. We needed to get off to a good start with bat chasing a score like that. Ball did a bit, batters got down the leg side. When that kind of thing starts happening, you start thinking the writing is on the wall. The loss leaves with no room for error. We have to probably win every game here on in,” Buttler added.
The Proteas rebounded from an unexpected setback against the Netherlands on Tuesday. In the sweltering Mumbai conditions, after being asked to bat first, they set up a score of 399/7. Heinrich Klaasen dazzled with a lightning century off 61 balls, and Marco Jansen contributed with a fiery 75 from just 42 deliveries.
In response, England found themselves reeling at 38/4 in just 8.1 overs and eventually getting bowled out for 170 within 22 overs.
After conceding their highest ODI total ever, England endured their biggest ever victory in terms of runs in ODIs.
Klaasen secured his maiden World Cup century, his fourth overall. It was the second-fastest century in the tournament, trailing only Aiden Markram's 100 off 48 deliveries against Sri Lanka. Klaasen's innings included 12 boundaries and four maximums.
With this commanding victory, South Africa solidified their position at third in the points tablewith six points. Meanwhile, England plummeted to the ninth spot, sharing two points with the bottom-placed Afghanistan.
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