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2023 Cricket World Cup
One Day International Format
England v South Africa
Wankhede Stadium
Mumbai, India
Saturday, 21 October 2023
Both England and South Africa will be looking to bounce back from shock defeats when they lock horns in the
2023 Cricket World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, October 21.
The Proteas started the tournament in India with a bang as they set numerous records in a 102-run victory over Sri Lanka before demolishing Australia by 134 runs.
However, Rob Walter's side were poor in every aspect of the game against Netherlands, who recorded a famous victory in a rain-reduced match on October 17.
South Africa started well and had the Flying Dutchmen in trouble at 82/5, but they recovered to post 245/8 from their allotted 43 overs after a disappointing effort in the field from Temba Bavuma and company.
Only Marco Jansen performed well with the ball and was the most economical bowler in the match after going for just 27 runs from his eight overs, taking two wickets in the process, although he was guilty of giving away six extra deliveries from wides, while the team conceded 32 extras.
The Proteas were just as disappointing with the bat as they managed 207 in reply, with only David Miller (43) and Keshav Maharaj (40) offering any sort of resistance at the crease.
Bavuma has called on his team-mates to let the hurt sink in but not allow it to get them down as they plot a course back from a first-ever defeat to the Netherlands in ODIs.
"You got to let the emotion kind of seep in. Don't think there is any point in trying to forget what's happened. It is going to hurt, it should hurt," he said in the post-match presentation.
"But then you come back tomorrow, you wake up and we get back onto the journey. Our campaign is not over by any stretch of the imagination, but you got to feel the emotion of today and come back tomorrow with the head held up."
England haven't been anywhere near their best in the opening two weeks of the World Cup, winning just one of their three group games to date.
The defending champions suffered a resounding nine-wicket loss to New Zealand before putting their first two points on the board when they beat Bangladesh by 173 runs.
But one of the upsets of the tournament saw Matthew Mott's side lose to Afghanistan by 69 runs on October 15 as they struggled with both bat and ball in Delhi.
Alamy Stock Photo
Rahmanullah Gurbaz took the English bowlers apart at the top of the order, hitting 80 off just 57 balls before being run out. Adil Rashid took two quick wickets and finished with figures of 3/42 from his 10 overs.
Most of the other bowlers came in for punishment as Afghanistan eventually mustered a total of 284, with Ikram Alikhil (58) also registering a half-century.
England weren't able to deal with the three-pronged spin attack of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, who accounted for eight of the 10 wickets to limit them to just 215.
Mott insists they're not pushing the panic button just yet, but admits the players need to start finding the form that made them so devastating over the last four years.
"The facts were, we were just a bit off in every aspect of the game. It's not panic stations yet, but it's nowhere near the start that we were hoping for and the time is now to really turn that around," he said.
"It's put us under a lot more pressure than we'd like. But there's still a lot of clarity about us having to play our game and getting back on the road with that. Once we start putting that together, you build momentum and then hopefully you peak at the right time."
Head-to-Head (ODI)
Matches - 69
England - 30
South Africa - 33
Draws - 1
No result - 5
ODI World Rankings
3 - South Africa
6 - England
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