London:England beat South Africa by 104 runs in the opening match of the World Cup, 2019 at the Oval, here on Thursday.Put into bat, England, with the help of Jason Roy (54), Joe Root (51), Eoin Morgan (57) and Ben Stoke's (89), posted a challenging total of 311, against South Africa.
While chasing a target of 311, the visitors got a steady start, as Hasim Amla was retired hurt soon, after he opened and later on a score of 36 runs in 7.4 overs, SA lost their first wicket. Aiden Markram, who joined Quinton de Kock after Amla, was caught by Joe Root on Jofra Archer's ball. Archer got his second wicket, as he sent Faf du Plessis (5) back to the hut.
However, De Kock with Rassie van der Dussen added 85-run for the third wicket and kept the hope alive for his team. But in 23rd over, Kock was caught by Joe Root on Liam Plunkett's ball. De Kock scored 68 runs off 74 balls, with the help of six fours and two sixes.
After De Kock's dismissal, Dussen didn't get any support from other batsmen as JP Duminy (8), Dwaine Pretorius (1) were dismissed within one after another leaving visitors in a difficult situation and eventually lost the match.
Other batsmen Jos Buttler (18) Moeen Ali(3) Chris Woakes (13) Liam Plunkett (9*) and Jofra Archer (7) scored respetively.For South Africa, Liam Plunkett and Ben Stokes took two wickets each, while Jofra Archer grabbed three wickets. Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali grabbed one wicket each.
Earlier, Jason Roy and Joe Root played handsomely and kept hitting boundaries. They went on to complete their respective half-centuries and notched up 100-run partnership.However, South Africa bowlers dismissed both batsmen in quick succession to bring their side back in contest.
Later, England skipper Eoin Morgan, who was playing his 200th ODI match, and Ben Stokes started slowly but later escalated in their innings. They completed their fifties and looked on course for a big total.
Eoin Morgan departed after scoring 57 runs. From there, visitors bowlers picked up wickets in regular intervals and didn't allow the English batsmen to score runs freely.
Eventually, with the help tremendous innings by their batsmen, the hosts posted a total of 311/8.(UNI)
