Cricket World Cup matchday four: Du Plessis seeks a response from South Africa

South Africa captain Faf Du Plessis is hoping his team have what it takes to bounce back from their opening day defeat against England.

The Proteas face Bangladesh at The Oval still reeling from their 104-run defeat to the hosts and Du Plessis told a press conference: “England were better than us in all three facets of the game. ”

However, Dale Steyn remains a doubt with a shoulder injury, and his absence would boost Bangladesh in their first game of the tournament after they lost their second warm-up match by 95 runs to India.

Tweet of the day

The man of the moment. Warner is known for his bullish and even fearless approach to batting but there was an air of responsibility in the manner in which he refused to take the attack to Afghanistan’s bowlers. Opening partner Aaron Finch instead took up the mantle with 66 from 49 balls but even the departure of the captain refused to sway Warner, who stuck to his task manfully to get the reigning champions over the line.

World Cup snapshot

The leg-spinner was asked whether the boos that have routinely greeted Warner and Smith since arriving on these shores spur on the pair. While Warner stood out against Afghanistan, Smith struck a century in a warm-up against England last week.

Stat watch

Karunaratne had played only one one-day international since March 2015 but he was head and shoulders the best Sri Lankan batsman on display in the Welsh capital. Sri Lanka delivered an abject performance as they were rolled out for 136 with more than 20 overs unused. The total was put into context by Martin Guptill and Colin Munro overhauling Sri Lanka’s efforts in only 16.1 overs.

Top shot

Best ball

What’s next?

June 2: South Africa v Bangladesh at the Oval.

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