Bowling first was potentially a mistake: Jos Buttler

England captain Jos Buttler admitted that bowling first on a hot Saturday (October 21) afternoon in Mumbai was a wrong decision and that played a big part in their humiliating 229-run defeat against South Africa. The England bowlers looked completely cooked while bowling and the Proteas batters made the most of it, smashing 399/7 in their 50 overs. 

In response, England were bowled out for just 170 runs. Even that wouldn’t have been possible if Gus Atkinson and Mark Wood hadn’t added 70 runs for the ninth wicket. The defending champions have now lost three of their four games and with their NRR of -1.248 are placed at second last on the points table.

“Incredibly disappointing. We were well beaten. We have come here to play our best cricket. Lots of things didn't go to plan in the first innings. Reece picked up the injury. The boys fought hard. We could have restricted them to 340-350, could have been a good chase,” said Buttler. 

“Bowling first was potentially a mistake in incredibly tough conditions. Everyone put in a great shift. The humidity, cramps, and all other challenges were tough. We needed to get off to a good start with bat. The ball did a bit, batters got down the leg side and stuff like that put the writing on the wall. The loss leaves us with no room for error.”

Meanwhile, Aiden Markram heaped heavy praise on Heinrich Klaasen, Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen and Marco Jansen. Hendricks and van der Dussen scored fifties, while Klaasen slammed 109 off 67. Jansen chipped in with 75* off 42 and put on 151 runs for the seventh wicket. That partnership broke the morale of English players. 

“Fantastic all-round performance. Was a great effort. We know England like chasing. We were comfortable batting first. Thankfully, our pacers were not roasted bowling first under the sun,” said Markram, who captained South Africa in the absence of Temba Bavuma.  

“Really great knock from Reeza. He has been around for a long time. That helped. He has been practising every day. Got rewarded today. We have Miller at 6 and Klaasen at 5. That's a destructible pair. (On Jansen) Fantastic to see that he showcased his ability on a global stage like this. Jansen is having a great time. He takes pride in his batting. Had a great partnership with Klaasen.”

Klaasen was named player of the match for his game-changing century. The middle-order batter whacked 12 fours and four sixes during his stay in the middle and brought up his fourth ODI hundred. “One of my best (knocks) ever, I was hitting the ball nicely, this knock will go down as one of my better ones,” he said.

South Africa lost Aiden Markram and David Miller in quick succession and were reduced to 243/5 before Jansen walked in and changed the game completely. The No. 7 batter smoked three fours and six maximums, with 49 of his last runs coming off just 14 deliveries. Jansen is now averaging 41.22 with the bat this year and is scoring runs at a strike rate of 122.

“They (England) were physically under the pump but a couple of wickets got them back in. Next level (Jansen's knock). This award needs to go to him (Jansen). He kept me going and pumped me up saying you are not leaving the ground without a 100. He has been phenomenal, has been batting so well. The runs he scored were so vital for us.

“Great way to bounce back after the Netherlands loss, it hurt us.”