(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] England captain Jos Buttler showed his disappointment as his team’s chances to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-finals look bleak. This came after South Africa registered a 229-run victory over England on Saturday in the 20th match of the tournament held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The Proteas posted the highest total ever of 399 runs against England in ODIs after losing the toss. Reeza Hendricks and Rassie van der Dussen scored 85 and 60 runs, respectively, whereas Heinrich Klaasen’s maiden World Cup century and Marco Jansen’s finishing touches with the bat further dented the hopes of the Englishmen of winning the match.
While chasing, the England team could not absorb the pressure of the massive target and got bundled out in just 22 overs at a score only 170. Additionally, a loss of 229 runs became the biggest defeat by runs for England in ODIs.
England are now placed at the ninth spot on the points table, having won only one match in the tournament out of four. The upcoming fixtures for England will be must-win if they need to qualify for the semis.
In the post-match press conference, Buttler acknowledged the fact that it is not going to be easy for them to qualify for the knockouts as they have not only lost the match but also suffered a big dent in their Net Run Rate.
“Yeah, it’s going to be incredibly difficult. We haven’t left ourselves any margin from this point in. But we’ll keep the belief,” Buttler said in the post-match press conference.
Furthermore, Buttler gave a reason for England’s lackluster performance, saying that their pacer Reece Topley picked up an injury in the middle of the game, which cost them a lot, alongside the hot and humid conditions in which many players found themselves exhausted.
“I don’t think so. Throughout the first innings, lots of things didn’t quite go to plan. We started nicely, [but] Reece picked up that injury and then the unknown as to whether he’d come back or not, trying to fiddle a few overs in. Those kind of things, couple of guys struggling with the heat, etc. So it was a tough 50 overs there, the boys fought hard, a lot of effort,” he added.
“I thought if we could have restricted them to 340-350, probably on this pitch it would have been a really good chase. They just got away from us there at the end,” Buttler concluded.
England will next face Sri Lanka on October 26 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.