England suffered 10-run loss against South Arica.
England pacer Mark Wood said that defeat against South Africa in their ICC T20 World Cup 2021 league clash at Sharjah will keep them grounded.
England after winning four consecutive matches in the T20 World Cup 2021, finally suffered a loss. The Eoin Morgan-led side was at the receiving end of a 10-run thumping against South Africa.
Batting first, South Africa on account of brutal knocks by Rassie van der Dussen (94*) and Aiden Markram (52*) posted a mammoth total of 189 runs on the board.
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While chasing England came out all guns blazing but suffered a major blow as opener Jason Roy suffered a leg injury and limped off the field. Though England scored runs at a good pace, they lost wickets at regular intervals.
With 14 runs needed in the last over, Kagiso Rabada, who was smashed for three consecutive sixes by Liam Livingstone, took hattrick to hand England their first defeat of T20 World Cup 2021.
Reflecting on the loss, England pacer Mark Wood said that loss against South Africa will bring them down to earth and keep them grounded. He added that a 10-run loss was a lesson for them that they need to work on.
"It's a shame we've lost the game, that brings us down to earth with a bit of a bump. It keeps us grounded and we know we've got some stuff to work on. You never want to lose. We're not used to losing and usually when we do we bounce back well. I think it's just a lesson that we've got plenty to work on," Mark Wood told Sky Sports
Wood admitted that South Africa played well and lost only two wickets, which put them on the back foot as they are used to taking wickets in power play and then controlling the game from there.
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He added that they need to address a few things in training and be better in the next game.
"South Africa played really well - they only lost two wickets and we're not used to that - we're used to getting wickets in the powerplay and controlling the game from there. We were maybe off the pace, so we've got to work on things in training and be better next game. It's nice to be back, but it's better when you win," he said.
Even though South Africa won the match they failed to qualify for the semi-finals as England and Australia, who also had 6 points, qualified on basis of the Net Run Rate.
The Eoin Morgan-led side will take on New Zealand in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup at Abu Dhabi on 10th November.
(PTI inputs)