LONDON – England made a confident start to their Cricket World Cup campaign as they crushed South Africa by 104 runs in the tournament opener at The Oval on Thursday.
Ben Stokes top-scored with 89 as the hosts made a competitive total of 311 for eight after being sent in to bat.
Jofra Archer took two early wickets and South Africa never looked likely to reach their target, bowled out in the 40th over for 207 to give World Cup favourites England the perfect start.
“I’m sure there was a few nerves kicking around – I’ve not felt like that in a long time when we arrived at the ground. To come away with a win is a fantastic start,” Stokes said.
“To perform as we did – I think that’s the best we’ve fielded in about two or three years. The amount of runs we saved was absolutely brilliant.”
South Africa opener Hashim Amla was forced to retire hurt after being struck on the helmet by a short delivery from Archer and England took wickets at regular intervals.
“We were outplayed in all three departments. Jofra Archer took two wickets up front and Hashim Amla (injured) as well, so it was basically three down,” Faf Du Plessis said.
“I thought 300 was par but there were some really good batting performances from England.” (Reuters)
Summarised scores: England 311-8 (Ben Stokes 89, Eoin Morgan 57, Jason Roy 54, Joe Root 51, Joss Buttler 18, Chris Woakes 13; Lungi Ngidi 3-66, Imran Tahir 2-61, Kagiso Rabada 2-66). South Africa 207 in 39.5 overs (Quentin de Kock 68, Rassie van der Dussen 50, Andile Phehlukwayo 24, Hashim Amla 13, Aiden Markram 11, Kagiso Rabada 11; Jofra Archer 3-27, Ben Stokes 2-12, Liam Plunkett 2-37). England won by 104 runs.
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