London, May 30 : After posting a big total of 311 for eight, England packed up the South African innings for just 207 to register a thumping win by 104 runs in the first match of the ICC World Cup on Thursday at the Oval, London.
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and decided to bowl first. Despite losing a very early wicket though, England never stopped scoring freely and took advantage of the chance of batting first posting a big total of 311 runs on the board with the help of 4 fifties Ben Stokes (89), Eoin Morgan (57), Jason Roy (51) and Joe Root (51).
While replying, South Africa two wickets in just 10 overs. Along with that, they have also lost Hashim Amla for a while due to a blow on his helmet by Jofra Archer. He had backed again to bat but never was looked to recover from the blow.
In the third wicket stand, Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen added 85 runs, but while to 193 from 129, South Africa lost another five wickets. The collapse in the middle overs threw them out of the race.
Both of de Kock (68) and van der Dussen (50) struck a half-century each, but the effort was not enough to win the battle against the No. 1 team in the ODI ranking.
Eventually, South Africa got all-out for 207 in 39.5 overs. For England, Archer, who played his first World Cup match, took three wickets conceding 27 runs in seven overs. Liam Plunkett and Stokes bagged two wickets each. While Plunkett conceded 37 runs in seven overs, Stokes gave away only 12 runs in 2.5 overs. He took the last two wickets of South Africa in consecutive two deliveries.
Earlier, England lost their first wicket with just one run in the board. Imran Tahir removed Jonny Bairstow for a golden duck in the second ball of the match. However, England recovered it well and continued to dominate over the South African bowlers.
In the end, Stokes was adjudged the man of the match for his all-round performance of hitting 89 runs and taking two wickets for 12 runs only.
England will take on Pakistan in their next match at Nottingham on June 3, while South Africa will lock horn against Bangladesh at London on June 2.
