Cricket World Cup 2019: England vs South Africa Result, Highlights, Score, Player of the Match & More

Eoin Morgan, winning captain: Delighted to be off and running in this tournament. It's more satisfying than normal. We were very good today, the wicket didn't allow us to execute our plan which is to try and score quite a considerable total, but I thought the maturity and smart cricket we played shows the effort we put in the last two years and the experience as well. Extremely impressed. He (Stokes) had a field day and especially that catch he took was absolutely outstanding. To have a match-winner like that in the side, he is someone who lifts absolutely everybody and I thought the bowling unit really did get off to a great start and continued to learn from the first innings and then put into place in second innings. Slowish pitch, he (Archer) bowled fast and accurate and it's outstanding. He is taking everything in his stride at the moment and he is improving everyday and that's very exciting. Huge amount of pleasure. It's an area we were always trying to improve on and certainly we are looking for match winning contributions in the field.

Faf du Plessis, the losing captain: I think we have been outplayed in all three departments. Basically we were 3 down in 12 overs and I think we were looking for 330-340 but when we took the pace off we thought 300 was par. It was a plan (to start with Tahir). We wanted to target those two openers with leg spin, especially Roy. It worked today. Their batting was really good. They are a top-quality team and they showed that with the bat today. You need a bit of momentum in the first two games. He (Amla) is okay now and when he came back to the dressing room, he looked fine and hopefully that's a good sign for the next game. When we have Dale and all our resources, we back our bowling to restrict teams under 300.

Ben Stokes, Man of the Match: (On the catch) I was a little further in than I should have been. I panicked a bit I guess but it stuck. I shouldn't have been there (initially) and it was probably a regulation catch but I was in the wrong position. (On the pitch) The message from the batsmen in the middle was that it was a tricky pitch to bat on, so the aim was to get to 300-310. Maybe 330. I was looking to just pace it. The hard length was difficult and obviously, the slower balls and all. Towards the end, they (SA bowlers) were really hard to get away. I guess psychologically getting over the 300-run mark really helped. And then, our bowlers knew what to do and they executed well. (On the crowd support) It was unbelievable, excellent turnaround for the first World Cup and hope it continues.

Ben Stokes gets the Man of the Match for his complete performance in this game.

Wicket! Ben Stokes gets the wicket of Imran Tahir and England have registered a thumping 104 run victory over South Africa in their opening encounter. Stokes starred in all three departments for his team. Proteas have been bundled out for 207 in 39.5 overs.

Well, that was pretty ruthless by England, and most of all by Ben Stokes: 89, a run-out, an early contender for catch of the tournament, and two wickets in two balls at the end. England beat South Africa by 104 runs to kickstart the World Cup.

— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) May 30, 2019

Wicket! You can't keep Ben Stokes out of action tonight. He scored runs, took catch and now he gets a wicket as well. Rabada is caught in the deep by Plunkett for 11. SA - 207/9 in 39.4 overs.

200 comes up for South Africa with a boundary from Kagiso Rabada's bat.

Wicket! Hashim Alma nicks the short-pitched delivery from Liam Plunkett and Jos Buttler pouched it comfortably. SA - 193/8 in 38.1 overs.

SA's batting was vulnerable, but this effort has been particularly disappointing: neither head nor heart

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 30, 2019

Here's the unbelievable catch from Stokes.

As good as it gets! Unbelievable #cwc19 #ENGvRSA #stokes 🔥 https://t.co/dQ03EJUww9

— James Taylor (@jamestaylor20) May 30, 2019

Graeme Swann's reaction to Stokes' catch!

WOW!!!! @benstokes38 has just taken the most ridiculously audacious catch in the @ODIWCup_2019 it’s the best catch I’ve ever seen in the flesh, find a screen quickly and see what I mean 😲😲😲

— Graeme Swann (@Swannyg66) May 30, 2019

Wicket! Ben Stokes pulls off a stunning catch in the deep. Phehlukwayo's innings comes to an end with a that one-handed brilliance from Stokes. It's undoubtedly one of the best catches of all time. SA - 180/7 in 34.1 overs.

What a bloody catch that @benstokes38 😳😳😳 #CWC19

— Veda Krishnamurthy (@vedakmurthy08) May 30, 2019

Drinks! South Africa are 180/6 in 34 overs. Phehlukwayo - 24* Amla - 7* are the last recognised batting pair for the Proteas. They still need 132 runs from 16 overs. Things are in England's control.

Just a wicket for Moeen Ali in ODIs in this year.

Moeen Ali in ODIs in 2019:
0/85(10)
0/51(7)
0/31(2)
1/66(10)
0/32(6)
0/30(4)
0/63(10)
0/38(6) --- so far today

One wicket in 55 overs#ENGvSA #CWC19 #WeAreEngland

— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) May 30, 2019

Hashim Alma is back into the middle to bat for South Africa and he's going to face Archer - who's bouncer sent him off the field.

Wicket! Rassie van der Dussen (50) has been dismissed by Archer. Captain brings him back into the attack and the speedster delivers. The pacer surprised the batsman with his short-pitched delivery. SA - 167/6 in 31.5 overs.

Fifty! Rassie van der Dussen brings up his fifth half-century with a single. He took 56 deliveries to get to the 50-run mark.

Wicket! Pretorious is run out for 1 and South Africa have lost their 5th wicket for 144. They are in all sorts of trouble now.

That was now 20 minutes of some disappointing cricket... #ENGvSA #CWC2019

— Paul Adams (@PaulAdams39) May 30, 2019

Soft dismissal! Reckless shot from JP Duminy off Moeen Ali as he looked to attack the spinner. Ben Stokes takes a simple catch at long-off and Duminy's inning comes to an end for 8. SA - 142/4 in 25.5 overs.

JP. What was that? #CWC19 #ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/VVb0FMJMjS

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) May 30, 2019

WICKET! Big blow for the Proteas as they lose their set batsman Quinton de Kock. With Kock falling for 68, SA are under trouble now as there is still suspense over Amla's availability in this innings. SA - 129/3 in 23 overs.

Amla update:

Amla has been assessed. And... there's no conclusion. He will have another concussion test later. At that stage, he can still bat. Said to be 'doing fine.'

— George Dobell (@GeorgeDobell1) May 30, 2019

FOUR! That's the third boundary off the over. Bit off luck here as van der Dussen pushes it out as it deflects wide off Butler and races away for a boundary.

FOUR! The pressure is on Moeen Ali as the second delivery also runs away for a boundary. van der Dussen goes for the reverse dab and gets it past third man. Back-to-back boundaries.

SIX!! Ali hit for a maximum on the first delivery of the over. van der Dussen takes a step down and smashes it over long-off!

Quinton de Kock's last seven ODI innings: 83(58) 81(72) 94(70) 121(108) 51(57) 6(14) 50(58)* (today).

Fifty! Quinton de Kock brings up his half-century off 58 deliveries. This is his 22nd ODI fifty and 2nd in the world cup. He needs to stay into the middle till the end if SA want to come out victorious in this run chase. They are 89/2 after 18 overs.

SIX!! First maximum of the innings for SA. It came off Quinton de Kock's blade. He slog-sweeps Moeen Ali and dispatches it into the stands over midwicket. SA - 62/2 after 12 overs.

Four! Rashid bowls his first over and he almost got rid of Quinton de Kock. The googly from Rashid nicked his pad and went on to hit the stumps but the bails remained intact. The ball also raced towards the boundary. Some luck working in the favour of South Africa. SA - 50/2 after 11 overs.

This will be an interesting chase spinners bowling well for @englandcricket

— Robin John Peterson (@robbie13flair) May 30, 2019

Big Wicket! Faf du Plessis (5) pulls Jofra Archer and Moeen Ali takes a simple catch in the deep. It was bowled at 149 kmph and it did the trick for his team. South Africa lose their second wicket in the first powerplay. SA - 44/2 in 9.3 overs.

Four! New man-in Faf du Plessis gets off the mark with a boundary.

Wicket! Aiden Markram (11) edges Jofra Archer and Joe Root takes a simple catch at slip cordon. South Africa lose their first wicket early with Amla already retired hurt. SA - 36/1 after 7.4 overs. Faf du Plessis walks into the middle.