World Cup 2019, Eng vs SA: 3 mistakes which cost South Africa the game

Co-hosts England were branded the heavy favourites coming into the 2019 World Cup. On the other hand, South Africa were not looking in the best shape. Earlier, Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to field first on a slightly slower pitch.

The decision to open the bowling with Imran Tahir worked wonders as the leg-spinner got the wicket of Jonny Bairstow in the first over. Jason Roy and Joe Root built a great partnership for the second wicket before losing their wickets in quick succession. Then, Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes stabilized the innings in the middle overs.

South Africa bowled well in the slog overs, but Stokes ensured that England crossed the 300-run mark. The Proteas suffered a blow when Hashim Amla had to leave the field after being hit on the helmet. Quinton de Kock played well but apart from Rassie van der Dussen, no one gave him good enough support.

Eventually, England registered a convincing 104-run win, while South Africa have a lot to think about. Let us look at the three mistakes which cost South Africa the match.

#1 Bringing part-timers against unsettled batsmen

Ben Stokes

When England lost the wickets of Root and Roy in quick succession, the co-hosts seemed to be in a bit of trouble. This brought two new batsmen - Morgan and Stokes at the crease. South Africa should have made full use of that opportunity by putting pressure on these two.

Instead, Du Plessis made a mistake by bowling JP Duminy and Aiden Markram in tandem. This lifted the pressure and allowed both the middle order batsmen to settle. Once they were set, it became difficult to contain them.

If South Africa had picked up another wicket when those two were new at the crease, they could have had an upper hand in the match.

#2 Aggressive approach against Jofra Archer

Jofra Archer

Jofra Archer is the strike bowler for England. The right-hander has the pace to burn which makes him a threat for the opposition. Archer bowled a short ball to Amla which rose high and hit the South African opener on the helmet.

Some tests were conducted to check if the right-hander is okay. As a precautionary measure, he walked off, which was bad news for South Africa. The South African batsmen should have shown more respect to Archer, but they went for big shots against him, which cost them their wickets.

Both Markram and Du Plessis lost their wickets, playing attacking shots against Archer. Especially, a batsman with the experience of Du Plessis should have played more responsibly, instead of giving away his wicket cheaply. These early blows broke the back of the South African batting line-up and they were always on the back foot after that.

#3 Playing rash shots and lack of partnerships

Faf Du Plessis

When you want to chase a target of over 300 runs, you need some good partnerships. This is where South Africa failed as they managed to build just one good partnership. That partnership was between De Kock and Van der Dussen as the two built a partnership of 85 runs.

Apart from these two, no other batsman seemed ready to apply himself on the crease. The pitch was not a belter as it was a bit slow, and batsmen needed time to settle on the crease. The batsmen who got runs in the match were the ones who took their time before going for their shots. When a partership was needed, JP Duminy played a rash shot and got out. Also, South African opener De Kock got out while trying to clear the longest part of the boundary.

The inexperience in the South African batting line-up was clearly exposed as the batsmen played some reckless shots. The team would need to work on their shot selection in order to do well in a tournament of such magnitude.