Twitter Reactions: Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer star as England start their World Cup campaign with a clinical win

Ben Stokes had an excellent all-round day and deservedly won the Man of the Match award.

By Aditya Gajanan Kukalyekar verified

2 Min Read

Ben Stokes. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
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Ben Stokes. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)

Finally, the much awaited World Cup got underway with England and South Africa locking horns at the Kennington Oval in London. The first day of the tournament witnessed some of the magic moments even as the hosts lived up to their favourites tag and pulled off a brilliant win over South Africa by 104 runs. The Proteas never fought it out with the bat after their bowlers did an exceptional job by restricting England to 311.

After opting to field first, Faf du Plessis pulled a rabbit out of the hat by opening the bowling with Imran Tahir and the move worked wonders for them. The in-form Jonny Bairstow was dismissed for a golden duck and the early nerves were visible for the hosts. However, they recovered from the early blow with a superb partnership between Joe Root and Jason Roy.

The duo added 106 runs for the second wicket and notched up half-centuries as well. But the visitors struck twin blows to dismiss both the set batsmen and once again the run-rate came down. Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes had to rebuild again and they did it successfully once again. Even they crossed the 50-run mark only for the former to mis-hit one to long on fielder off Imran Tahir in the 37th over.

At 217/4, with Jos Buttler arriving at the crease along with the set Ben Stokes, England were aiming for a huge score. South Africa though bowled really well and kept picking wickets. Stokes fought his way to 89 but the run-scoring was not at pace and despite some late fireworks from the lower order of England, they could post 311 runs for the loss of eight wickets after 50 overs. Lungi Ngidi picked three wickets while Kagiso Rabada and Tahir scalped a couple each.

South Africa implode in the chase

The momentum was with South Africa after the first innings and they would’ve backed themselves to chase down the total. But that wasn’t to be. Jofra Archer bowled superbly first up with the new ball and hit Hashim Amla on the helmet as well which rocked the veteran and had to leave the field. Aiden Markram and the skipper Faf du Plessis then were flummoxed by the Caribbean-born bowler and the Proteas never recovered from those losses.

Quinton de Kock was sheer class at the other end though but lacked support. He brought out some of the fantastic strokes from his kitty and scored a fighting half-century but he also gave up with the required run-rate increasing. He got out on 68 runs and once his partnership with Rassie van der Dussen was broken, it was all one-way traffic.

From 129/2, South Africa were bundled out for 207 in a matter of 17 overs or so and one felt, they lacked planning. England, on the other hand, were excellent and clinical with the ball and in the field. They affected a run-out as well while Ben Stokes pulled off a blinder, probably the catch of the tournament already, to send back Andile Phehlukwayo.

Archer was the star with the ball as he returned with the figures of 3/27 in his seven overs. Liam Plunkett and Stokes picked up a couple of wickets each. England have started the tournament on a winning note now while South Africa and Du Plessis have a lot to ponder about now.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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