"A really tough defeat to take": Jos Buttler on England's 229-run loss against South Africa

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 21 : Following England's disappointing 229-run loss against South Africa in the 20th match of the ODI World Cup at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, England skipper Jos Buttler said that it was a tough defeat to take.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Jos Buttler said that the English squad faced a disappointing loss in Delhi and after that did a lot of things to put it right against the Proteas but it didn't work out.
"Yeah, disappointment. A really tough defeat to take. Obviously, we were disappointed in Delhi and had a good few days and worked really hard and did a lot of things hoping to put it right today but it didn't work out," Jos Buttler said.
Buttler further added that the match went out of England's hand when the English middle order failed to make a partnership to make a breakthrough.
"I think that was the main bit of the game. We had them five down there, and if we could have found a way to break that partnership and take another wicket, you know, we could have looked like restricting them to 340 or 350, which probably would have been a really good chase on that pitch. I think getting up to 400 was an excellent score, it sort of took the wind away from us and it was always going to be tough from there, we needed everything to go perfectly to pull off a chase like that," he added.
Buttler accepted that physically it was tough and praised Heinrich Klassen and Marco Jansen's 151-run partnership in the first inning.
"I think you always reflect after games and sort of question your decisions. Certainly, with hindsight, the sort of physicality of that innings, potentially batting first would have been a better decision, but I'm not going to sort of sit here and question that and in that sense and sort of say, you should have done this or you should have done that. It's a decision I took at the time. I thought it was the right one and I still believe if we were chasing 340, 350, we would have done really well in those conditions. Yeah, a few things didn't go right. Obviously, Reece picked up a knock and was unsure if he was going to come back. So, I thought Joe Root did a fantastic job there filling in. And yeah, physically it was tough. You know, everyone's efforts were, you can't fold anyone's efforts, but yeah, Klassen and Jansen put together a fantastic partnership there," Buttler stated.
The England captain said that there's still belief in the dressing room and added that they need to fix things to pull off a chase in the second inning.
"No obviously not. Some fantastic players there and even though it's going to be a tough ask, there's still belief in the dressing room. You know, we'd need everything to sort of go right to pull off a chase like that. But, getting things caught down the leg side, caught leg slip, that kind of dismissals, it sort of feels like it's not going to be your day," Buttler concluded.
Coming to the match, England elected to field first. Half-centuries from Reeza Hendricks (85 in 75 balls, with nine fours and three sixes) and Rassie van der Dussen (60 in 61 balls, with eight fours) set a foundation for something big.
But it was the partnership between Heinrich Klaasen (109 in 67 balls, with 12 fours and four sixes) and Marco Jansen (75 in 42 balls, with three fours and six sixes) that really upped the run-rate, taking Proteas to 399/7 in their 50 overs.
Reece Topley (3/88) was the pick of the bowlers for England while Gus Atkinson and Adil Rashid took two wickets.
In the run chase of 400, England was never a threat and was reduced to 100/8. But a partnership between Mark Wood (43 in 17 balls, with two fours and five sixes) and Gus Atkinson (35 in 21 balls, seven fours) offered some entertainment to fans, but England was bundled for 170 in 35 overs.
Gerald Coetzee (3/35) was the top bowler for SA. Lungi Ngidi (2/26) and Marco Jansen (2/35) took two wickets while Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada took one.
Klaasen was the 'Player of the Match' for his match-winning knock.