World Cup: South Africa hand defending champions England 229-run defeat

South Africa thrashed defending champions England to bag an astonishing 229-run win in the World Cup 2023 match played at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.

While chasing a mammoth target of 400 runs —courtesy of blistering knocks by South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jensen — England were bowled out at 170 runs in the 22nd over.

The Proteas, with six points, are ranked number three at the points table as they have won three contests out of the four matches played in the tournament so far.

England were on their way to suffering a 300-run defeat but a valiant effort by their tailenders, Gus Atkinson and Mark Wood, saved them as both batters built a 70-run partnership with the latter scoring an unbeaten 43 runs on 17 deliveries.

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.