World Cup 2019 hosts England defeated South Africa in the tournament opener by 104 runs. South Africa's chase took a hit when Hashim Amla had to retire hurt after being hit by a quick Jofra Archer's bouncer. His partner Quintin de Kock continued playing his shots amidst tumbling wickets from the other end. Aiden Markram and skipper Faf du Plesis both departed cheaply. Rassie van der Dussen, in at No. 5, held the innings from the other end and supported de Kock well. They both batted sensibly and kept South Africa in the hunt. De Kock got out for 68 which derailed South Africa chase. The team didn't recover from there as wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Andile Phehlukwayo played a little cameo that didn't make much difference and they were bowled out for 207. Earlier in the day, South Africa skipper Faf du Plesis won the toss and elected to bat against England in the first match of World Cup 2019. To everybody's surprise, Du Plesis opened bowling with leg-spinner Imran Tahir, who repaid his skipper's faith by dismissing Jonny Bairstow on the second ball of the innings. Jason Roy and Joe Root started to play their natural game and kept hitting boundaries. They went on to complete their respective half-centuries and notched up 100-run partnership. South Africa bowlers dismissed both batsmen in quick succession to bring their side back in contest. England skipper Eoin Morgan, who was playing his 200th ODI match, and Ben Stokes started slow but picked up the pace later in their innings. They also completed their fifties and looked on course for a big total. Eoin Morgan trying to accelerate departed after scoring 57 runs. From there, South Africa bowlers picked up wickets in regular intervals and didn't allow the English batsmen to score runs freely. Ben Stokes' innings of 89 helped England a challenging total of  311/8. (SCORECARD)Â
World Cup 2019 Match Highlights Between England vs South Africa, straight from Kennington Oval, LondonÂ
Ben Stokes goes short at Kagiso Rabada who pulls that firmly but straight to deep midwicket fielder Liam Plunkett who dives forward and completes the catch.
Banged in short from Ben Stokes and Kagiso Rabada pulls that away. The ball was in the air but away from diving Eoin Morgan and raced away to the fence.
It looks out of reach of South Africa and they should look to get as close to the target as possible because it's long tournament and net run rate will be crucial and might come into play in the later stage of the tournament.
England have been remarkable in the field from ball one and Ben Stokes has pulled off a stunner to dismiss Andile Phehlukwayo. Stokes also can't believe he has caught that. This is one the best we have seen in a long time. The ball was travelling and Stokes timed his horizontal jump to perfection. The more you see it, the more you love it.
Ben Stokes has just taken one of the greatest catches you will EVER see!
Andile Phehlukwayo is doing for South Africa what more capable batmen couldn't do for them -- hitting boundaries. He looks determinant even against Jofra Archer who has threatened the most. Archer missed his line and Phehlukwayo flicked it nicely off his pads to fine leg fence for a four .
Jofra Archer strikes once again for England. This time Rassie van der Dussen gets beaten by Archer's pace as he late for the pull and the mid-on fielder completes a simple catch.
Adil Rashid's ball hit Andile Phehlukwayo on his front pad but umpire Kumar Dhramasena has turned his appeal down. England review umpire's decision. The replay shows it was pitched outside leg. Hence umpire was right. England lose their review.
Rassie van der Dussen hits against the spin to Moeen Ali on the off side for a four. He timed that ball to perfection and his placement was even more immaculate.
Beautiful use of feet from Andile Phehlukwayo. He charged down to Adil Rashid and found the gap between mid-off and extra cover and the ball travelled for a four.
Dwaine Pretorius despite making a full length dive falls short of his crease and South Africa's woes continue. There was no clear intent from the two batsmen on whether they wanted one or two and they stopped for a while before coming back for the second run and that is what probably led to Pretorius' dismissal.
A wonderful shot followed by a poor shot. JP Duminy departs after scoring just 8 off 11 balls. He was trying to hit it over extra cover but ends up mishitting it. He is caught by Ben Stokes at long off. South Africa are in deep deep trouble here.
Quinton de Kock is caught by Joe Root on the leg side. It was a nothing delivery from Plunkett and deserved a punishment, but not this time as de Kock finds Root on the biggest part of the ground. His innings ends at 68.
This is turning out to be a big over for South Africa. Rassie van der Dussen guide the ball wide of the keeper to the third man for a four. Chris Woakes' dive goes in vain.
Now, Rassie van der Dussen shows his class as he got to the pitch of the ball nicely and dispatched it right over bowler's head for a six. Joe Root who went to fetch the ball, got stuck in the sightscreen cover and somehow manages to come out going around it.
Chris Woakes starts his new spell with a short of length ball, Quinton de Kock takes couple of strides and dispatches that to the backward square leg for a four. Good shot from him.
Chris Woakes starts his new spell with a short of length ball, Quinton de Kock takes couple of strides and dispatches that to the backward square leg for a four. Good shot from him.
First real confident shot from Quinton de Kock. It was bowled right in his slot and he got down on his knees and dispatched it over mid wicket ropes for a six.
Quinton de Kock goes for a sweep, misses the ball which hits the stump but the bails remain intact. Instead after hitting the stumps, ball has travelled to the fence. Issue with zinger bails continues. We saw this happen on multiple occasion during IPL 2019.
Jofra Archer picks another wicket. It was a quick bouncer, angling in to du Plesis who loses his shape trying to pull it. Archer's extra pace and bounce again does the work for him. Moeen Ali completes the catch at fine leg.
Jofra Archer takes his maiden World Cup wicket. Aiden Markram was looking good but the extra pace and bounce from Archer led to his dismissal. He departs for 11.
England Cricket Team
South Africa Cricket Team