England were routed in historic fashion by South Africa as their tortured Cricket World Cup campaign lurched to a new low in Mumbai with their biggest ever ODI defeat.
In desperate need of a big response after their shock loss to Afghanistan last time out, the defending champions plumbed new depths as they were roundly thrashed by 229 runs at the Wankhede Stadium.
Jos Buttler’s decision to field first in sweltering heat and stifling humidity backfired badly as Heinrich Klaasen’s brutal 61-ball century powered South Africa to 399 for seven. England’s reply was wafer thin, 170 for nine in 22 shambolic overs.
In pure numerical terms it represented England’s worst ever ODI performance with the ball, shipping one run more than their previous worst against Brendon McCullum’s New Zealand eight years ago, a new nadir outstripping last year’s 221-run hammering by Australia.
On that occasion Buttler’s men were mentally checked out as they celebrated their T20 World Cup win just a few days earlier, but the stakes could not have been realer this time.
Mark Wood’s figures of seven wicketless overs for 76 took the biscuit but he was hardly alone in being put to the sword, with South Africa’s 13 sixes shared between all six English bowlers and 143 runs raining down in 10 calamitous death overs.
Klaasen, sapped by dehydration and cramp, was the star of the show with 109 in 67 balls but enjoyed a stunning stand with Marco Jansen, who cleared the ropes four times as he launched 75no from 42.
The batting unit made sure to take its share of the embarrassment, knocked over for an embarrassing 170 on the same pitch that had delivered a runfest in the preceding four hours.
England have now lost three of their first four games and, although they still have a convoluted and narrow route to the semi-finals, face the prospect of traipsing around India for the next month with their hope and their trophy gone.
Hard to believe though it was by the end, England enjoyed the perfect start when Reece Topley had danger man Quinton de Kock caught behind off the second ball of the match.
Even less plausibly, they looked to be regaining a measure of control when Topley returned from a finger injury to strike twice and leave South Africa wobbling at 243 for five in the 37th over.
Instead, Klaasen led Jansen in a merciless stand of 151 in just 77 deliveries, with boundaries pouring off their bats in every direction.
England’s teamsheet showed a significant response to their Afghanistan upset, with all-rounders Chris Woakes, Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran axed in favour of the fit-again Ben Stokes, David Willey and rookie seamer Gus Atkinson.
Buttler put his new-look attack to work straight away and was overjoyed to see De Kock nick Topley’s early outswinger.
That was as good as it got. Things veered off course in the seventh over when Topley thrust his left hand out towards a firm drive off his own bowling and damaged his index finger.
He beat an angry retreat to the pavilion, lashing out at an empty chair, and in his absence England faltered.
Reeza Hendricks, taking the place of the sick skipper Temba Bavuma, made 85 and Rassie van der Dussen 60 as they took control with a stand of 121.
Adil Rashid was also struggling physically, doubled in pain between overs as he managed a stomach upset of his own, but the leg-spinner still had the nous to prise out both set batters to give England hope.
After taking running repairs on his finger Topley came back with a double of his own to see off Aiden Markram and David Miller, but that is where the bleeding really began.
Klaasen had reached his fifty in 40 balls and doubled his score in half the time, battering Topley out of the attack once and for all with 19 off an over. Willey lost his radar totally after a bout of cramp, Wood’s woes continued and Atkinson’s last-gasp dismissal of Klaasen was the hollowest of victories.
England’s attempts at a dazzling pursuit never once looked like materialising as their top six collapsed in a heap inside 12 overs.
Jonny Bairstow lofted to deep square-leg, Joe Root flicked to the waiting leg-slip and Dawid Malan feathered one off his hip. Even the returning Stokes had no magic tricks at his disposal and pushed a low catch straight back to Kagiso Rabada. The quartet mustered 23 runs between them.
That left Buttler and Harry Brook as the last specialist batters and unheralded seamer Gerald Coetzee picked up both in the space of three balls: one caught behind, the other pinned lbw by a skidder that kept low.
A flurry of big hits from Wood, who smashed 43no off just 17 balls, and a lively 35 from Atkinson only made the batting failures more profound and the latter’s dismissal ended up horrendous night, with Topley unfit to take guard.
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
'I was a tired, grumpy old man' - Stokes apologised to England team-mates after Pakistan defeat
Ben Stokes says he apologised to his England team-mates after his frustrations were evident during the second-Test defeat by Pakistan.
The hosts levelled the three-Test series on Thursday after wrapping up a 152-run win in Multan.
However, it could have been a different story but for fielding errors at crucial stages for the visitors, Jamie Smith and Joe Root notably dropping catches to dismiss Salman Agha, whose subsequent knock of 63 helped Pakistan seal victory with a day to spare.
Stokes, who returned to action following a hamstring injury, could not hide his frustration during a difficult day for England, but insisted he would not let his emotions get the better of him again.
"No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are in these subcontinent conditions, they don't come along that often," he told Sky Sports.
"I actually apologised to the group last night. It's the first time in my captaincy that I've let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language.
"I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It's something that I don't want to do or be seen to be doing, so I apologised to the group about that.
"Poor old me, I was a tired, grumpy old man last night! You won't see that happen again."
However, England coach Brendon McCullum defended the actions of his skipper.
"We all know how passionate Ben is, how much it means for him to play for England," he said.
"We've seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from injury, which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe and to have his first TM [Test match] in extreme conditions, 40 degrees, and be able to give what he gave to the side.
"I think, maybe, that's where some of that frustration led to - certainly, it wasn't directed at any of the players. It was more about trying to assess the rhythm of the game, and to impact on it."
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