New Zealand started their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign with four successive victories. However, the Kiwis lost the plot and slumped to three defeats on the trot and their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals are now on a knife’s edge.

The Black Caps’ latest defeat came against South Africa by a huge margin of 190 runs in Pune on Wednesday (November 1).

After the game, New Zealand skipper Tom Latham rued the series of injuries his team has suffered since the start of the tournament.

As many as five players, including regular skipper Kane Williamson (thumb), are dealing with injuries, leaving them with only 10 fit players in the squad of 15.

"We have faced adversities with injuries. We will reflect on this one quickly and move to the next one, we don't become a bad team overnight," Latham said at the post-match presentation.

Matt Henry and James Neesham picked injuries during the match against South Africa. While Henry hurt his hamstring and will undergo scans on Thursday, Neesham sustained a blow on his right wrist.

Lockie Ferguson (achilles) and Mark Chapman (calf) are also battling injuries.

Coming to the match, New Zealand’s innings folded for 167 in 35.3 overs while chasing South Africa’s massive target of 358.

Reflecting on the loss, Latham said: "Not our best performance. We were under pressure after that partnership (between Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen). It was a big score. From the batting point of view, we had to have those partnerships, but we had our back against the wall. Those two played fantastically well.”

"It was a small ground and a good surface, but we couldn't do much in those first 10 overs. I think they put themselves in a great position, we were not able to build partnerships, that was disappointing," he added.

On the other hand, Proteas captain Temba Bavuma was pleased with his team's performance. With this victory, South Africa moved to the top of the points table.

"Clinical display with bat. Handled the challenge with the ball nipping around. We applied pressure with the ball. We tried to pounce on bad balls, Quinny started slowly, hung in there and cashed in at the end.

"More than the score, we were trying to stay in till 30 and go big later on. We were always looking to dominate with the new ball and middle overs. Knew they'd come hard at us and we'd get opportunities.

"Gotta hear the permutations about making the semis. After tomorrow, it's back to business, got to prepare for the next game," Bavuma said.

(With PTI Inputs)