Jos Buttler was a dejected captain as England suffered a humiliating 229-run defeat at the hands of South Africa in Match 20 of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday (October 21).
Opting to bowl first, the defending champions were blown away by Heinrich Klaasen’s scintillating hundred (109 off 67) and half-centuries from Marco Jansen (75* off 42), Reeza Hendricks (85 off 75) and Rassie van der Dussen (60 off 61).
As a result, the Proteas racked up a gigantic total of 399/7 on the board. In reply, England’s innings folded for a paltry 170 in 22 overs.
“A really tough defeat to take. Obviously, we were disappointed in Delhi (loss to the Afghanistan) and had a good few days and worked really hard and did a lot of things hoping to put it right today, but it did not work out,” Buttler said in the post-match presser.
With this embarrassing defeat, England put their semi-final hopes in jeopardy and Buttler admitted that it will be very difficult from this point to make it to the last-four stage.
“It is going to be incredibly difficult. We have not left ourselves any margin from this point on. But we will keep the belief,” the England skipper stated.
“It certainly leaves us in a tough position. There is no room for error from here on in. That is going to be incredibly tough, but we will sit down and go again. That is all you can do in this situation,” he added.
According to Buttler, the turning point of the game was the 151-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen.
“I think that was the main bit of the game. We had them five down there, and if we could have found a way to break that partnership and take another wicket, you know, we could have looked like restricting them to 340 or 350, which probably would have been a really good chase on that pitch,” he said.
In hindsight, the England captain also conceded that batting first would have been the right decision.
“You always reflect after games and sort of question your decisions. Certainly, with hindsight, the sort of physicality of that innings, potentially batting first would have been a better decision,” Buttler said.
He also defended his decision to field first on a batting-friendly Wankhede surface.
“It is a decision I took at the time. I thought it was the right one and I still believe if we were chasing 340, 350, we would have done really well in those conditions.”
Buttler revealed that Heinrich Klaasen celebrated his century in Mark Wood’s face but the Proteas batter quickly realised his mistake and apologised to the England pacer.
“I think he was obviously emotional to score 100. I do not think he needed to celebrate in Mark Wood’s face and credit to him, he recognised that a couple of seconds after and he apologised,” Buttler said.
“They played a great knock and I think he apologised straight away so there’s no ill feelings there,” he added.
(With PTI Inputs)
