ENG VS RSA - 20th Match, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

When nine and Jack are your top contributors with the bat in a chase of 400, you don't need to say much about the game. England were second best. Second by a lightyear. SA just ran away. This was supposed to be a marathon with the last lap deciding it all. In the end, it was a dash and England had a false start. They were never in this race. SA had a statement to make. They have done so in a pompous manner. Can't recall now, they didn't have their skipper for this game. England have a lot of catching up to do. It is time for festivities in India. So, we have an early finish. Grab your transport, that shopping mall is alluring you already...This is Kumar Abhisekh Das in the esteemed company of Nikhil Jadhav and Harish wishing you Happy Puja!

Aiden Markram | South Africa captain: Fantastic all-round performance. Was a great effort. We know England like chasing. We were comfortable batting first. Thankfully, our pacers were not roasted bowling first under the sun. Really great knock from Reeza. He has been around for a long time. That helped. He has been practising every day. Got rewarded today. We have Miller at 6 and Klaasen at 5. That's a destructible pair. [on Jansen] Fantastic to see that he showcased his ability on a global stage like this. Jansen is having a great time. He takes a pride in his batting. He has been practising a lot. Had a great partnership with Klaasen. That loss hurt us. Great way to bounce back.

Jos Buttler | England captain: Incredibly disappointing. We were well beaten. We have come here to play our best cricket. Lots of things didn't go to plan in the first innings. Reece picked up the injury. The boys fought hard. We could have restricted to 340-350, could have been a good chase. Incredibly tough under the heat. Could have been a good chase had we gotten off to a good start. The humidity was one of the challenges. Was tough. We needed to get off to a very good start. Couple of dismissals down the leg-side didn't help. Leaves us with no room for error. Need to win every game from here on.

England with this heart-wrenching loss slip to 9th on the table. They join four more sides who have played four and won only one. Men who won Gold last time around are vying for the wooden spoon in the current scenario. SA have renewed vigour. They outplayed Australia earlier. And now have annihilated England. One of the teams to beat and that little glitch against the Dutch might just have been the right wake-up call and that too early in the tourney. England on the other hand, where do they go from here? Forget about winning. They are yet to figure out their best XI. Can't recall last time when a defending champion looked so lost in a WC campaign. Maybe SL in 1999 WC. Their players might not believe in nightmares but they lived one today.

Stats courtesy Deepu Narayanan

Biggest defeats by runs for a Full Member nation in World Cups
257 WI vs SA Sydney 2015
229 Eng vs SA Mumbai WS 2023 *
215 NZ vs Aus St George's 2007
206 Ban vs SA Mirpur 2011

Biggest defeats by runs for England in ODIs
229 vs SA Mumbai WS 2023 *
221 vs Aus Melbourne 2022
219 vs SL Colombo 2018

Heinrich Klaasen | Player of the Match: One of my best (knocks) ever, I was hitting the ball nicely, this knock will go down as one of my better ones. It was proper heat, saps all the energy out of you. The heat out there was extreme. They (England) were physically under the pump but a couple of wickets got them back in. Next level (Jansen's knock). This award needs to go to him (Jansen). He kept me going and pumped me up saying you are not leaving the ground without an 100. He has been phenomenal, has been batting so well. The runs he scored were so vital for us. That loss (against Netherlands) was a tough one, but we know we are playing good cricket. One loss doesn't make us a bad team. Had some chats and our boys bounced back with the training sessions. It was a fantastic performance today.

20:35 Local Time, 15:05 GMT, 20:35 IST: How do I describe this? You live by the sword and you slash yourself by the same at times. England have decapitated their chances a little today of a top four finish. The defending champions have been a shadow of themselves from the 2019 WC. But this was a performance very tough to fathom. Yes, 400 was a tough chase. But they just somehow kept hitting to the fielders. SA lifted their game. And it was the ninth wicket pair which added a few enterprising runs as SA lost the plot for a brief period. Else, the margin of win would have been bigger. Earlier, SA batters went berserk. Klaasen and Jansen just ensured in the last part of the game that they outbatted England from the game. They just put it beyond. For sure, 350 looked par. But 400 never looked under threat. Pakistan have donned the mercurial hats for too long. Now, SA seem to be threatening their crown. They were outplayed by a spirited Dutch team. And today SA, who had players waking up from the right side of the bed, just went bonkers. Bavuma didn't play. Hendricks came in and adapted to the opening slot like a duck to water. Wasn't something new for him and he set to up along with RVD after the early dismissal of QDK. England's worries might not end. Their best bowler today - Topley - is injured and his presence for the remaining games might be under the cloud. Stay tuned for the post-match updates...

Maharaj to Gus Atkinson, out Bowled!! That's all over. Topley won't bat. He was injured. Was an arm ball, Gus Atkinson played back to it and missed the line to be castled. England have been handed a shellacking here. They have lost this by 229 runs. Massive loss. It might as well dent their chances of further qualification. Big big win here for SA as they have got their campaign back on track after the shocking loss to the Dutch. Gus Atkinson b Maharaj 35(21) [4s-7]

Maharaj to Gus Atkinson, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

Maharaj to Mark Wood, 1 run, excellent effort from the man at long-off! That was slapped hard, the man at long-off jumped up, got a hand to it and the ball stuck in his hand. He threw it back in the nick of the time. Only a single

Some acrobatics at the fence. Has he managed to stop a six? The fielder at long-off leapt up, plucked it out with his right hand and then threw it back before tumbling over. Only a single

Maharaj to Mark Wood, SIX, six more. Maharaj now being thrown to the cleaners. That is a massive six over deep mid. He butchered that across the line. Fetch that kind of a hit. He has moved to 42

Maharaj to Mark Wood, no run, backs away and gets an inside edge for the ball to dribble down into the off-side

Maharaj to Mark Wood, SIX, oh my my! This is brutal. Dances down, was a tossed up delivery, Mark Wood lofts it and the ball goes over long-on fielder's leaping effort

Maharaj to Mark Wood, FOUR, Wood has a chance, a golden chance to get an ODI fifty. Backs away, launches it over for a four. That was slapped hard and with the turn

Rabada to Gus Atkinson, FOUR, take that! Four more. Wow. This is sheer entertainment. Length delivery and smoked over the bowler's head. 18 runs off the over. Gus Atkinson taking down Rabada, one of the best in the business, to the cleaners

Rabada to Gus Atkinson, FOUR, four more. Rabada for sure isn't enjoying this. Was a short ball, outside off, slower, Gus Atkinson reaches out for it and slaps it between mid-off and cover for a four. That was hit well into the gap

Rabada to Gus Atkinson, no run, looks to drag one across the line and finds the man at mid-wicket as that came off the inner-half of the bat