England beat South Africa by 104 runs

Sports Desk:  England made a confident start to their Cricket World Cup campaign as they crushed South Africa by 104 runs in the opening match of the tournament 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 into 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."

England lost Jonny Bairstow to the second ball of the match, caught by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock off spinner Imran Tahir, but Jason Roy and Joe Root shared a 106-run partnership to steady the hosts.

Roy never threatened to dismantle the bowling as he has done regularly in recent matches, accumulating 54 runs before he skied Andile Phehlukwayo to Faf du Plessis at mid-off.

Three balls later Root departed for 51, playing a loose drive at Kagiso Rabada to give JP Duminy a simple catch at backward point and leave England on 111 for three.

South Africa continued to bowl tightly as Morgan and Stokes set about rebuilding the innings.


risingbd/May 31, 2019/Mukul