England captain Jos Buttler accepted the champions have “no room for error from now on” at the World Cup after a record 229-point defeat to South Africa. The Proteas piled up 399-7 after Buttler sent them into action in Mumbai on Saturday, with Heinrich Klaasen braving the hot and humid conditions at the Wankhede Stadium to score a gutsy hundred. England, who had conceded their highest international one-day total, then collapsed to 170 as they suffered what was also the record loss at this level.
They have now lost three of their first four matches – a nine-wicket hammering by New Zealand and a shock defeat to Afghanistan also under their belt – with another defeat likely to dash their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals.
“It certainly puts us in a difficult position,” said Buttler, whose side play Sri Lanka on Thursday next week.
‘From now on there is no more room for mistakes.
“It will be incredibly difficult. From now on we no longer have a margin for ourselves. But we continue to believe. We will sit down and continue.”
The English bowlers were powerless to resist as Klaasen (109) and Marco Jansen (75 not out) shared a sixth wicket stand of 151 in just 77 balls.
Faced with a huge chase, England’s batsmen felt compelled to fire against a tried and tested pace attack in South Africa.
But there was something unsettling about the way they were dismissed in 22 overs.
“I think it’s clear we’re not performing at our best,” Buttler said.
“My job as captain, along with the rest of the team, is to work out how we can get back to playing that brand of cricket, where we can fulfill our potential and get back to our best.
‘It certainly won’t be someone who gives up or has these kinds of thoughts. We just have to dust ourselves off, stick out our chests and go again.”
Saturday’s result could have been different had Buttler chosen to bat first after winning the toss.
As it was, his decision to field exposed the entire England XI to the energy-sapping conditions, with temperatures reaching 36 degrees.
“In retrospect, given the physicality of that innings, potentially batting first would have been a better decision,” Buttler said.
“It’s a decision I made at the time. I thought it was the right one and I still believe that if we chased 340, 350, we would have done very well in those conditions.”
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