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'We Were Short Of That...' Jos Buttler On England's Devastating Loss Against The Proteas

image-lo08fzyzTeam England faces second successive defeat

After the shocking upset against Afghanistan, England haven't been able to pull up their socks as they have been defeated by the South African team in the 20th match of the ongoing World Cup 2023. They have now lost three of their first four games of the tournament so far. 

The defending champions, who won their first-ever World Cup title in the last edition, have been miserable in this edition till now. If they want to qualify for the knockout stage, they need to win each and every game from here on. 

At one of the best batting pitches in the world at the Wankhade Stadium, South Africa smashed a massive total of 399 runs with a terrific century from Heinrich Klaasen and half-centuries from Reeza Hendricks, Rassie van der Dussen and Marco Jansen, while batting first. On the other hand, the English batters failed terribly and it was only the partnership between Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson in the end that took England's score to 170 with Wood smashing 43 off 17 balls. 

Here's what England's captain Jos Buttler said on the massive loss:

"Yeah, incredibly disappointing. You come here with high hopes and looking to play your best cricket and yeah, we were short of that and really well beaten. I think throughout the first innings, lots of things didn't quite go to plan. We started nicely, Reece picked up that injury, and then sort of the unknown as to whether he'd come back or not. Trying to fiddle, a few overs in those kind of things. A couple of guys struggling with the Heat, etc."

It was indeed humid out there at the Wankhade stadium, but both teams were under the same conditions and South Africa outplayed Jos Buttler's team. But he could not stop himself from making an excuse about the conditions.

"So it was a tough 50 overs there and the boys fought hard, a lot of effort, but I thought if we could have restricted them to 340-350, probably on this pitch, it would have been a really good chase. They just got away from us there at the end."

On being asked about his decision of opting to bowl first, Jos Buttler said that after losing, one always looks back on the decisions that were made.

"Yeah, potentially. I think you always look back and reflect on the decisions you made. Obviously incredibly tough conditions here in the Heat. Yes, certainly tough. I think the humidity and the cramps and I know all the other challenges that went into it as well, so it was tough. It leaves us with no room for error. We have to probably win every game from here on in, knowing that's the situation we find ourselves in."

The captain himself understands that there's no room for error now as they have to win every game from here to reach the knockout stage. Team England will be facing Sri Lanka on the 26th of October in Bengaluru.