5 things that have gone wrong for South Africa at the World Cup

South Africa face a mountainous task to reach the World Cup semi-finals after losing their first three group stage matches.

The Oval was an unhappy hunting ground for the Proteas as they followed up defeat to tournament hosts and favourites England in last Thursday’s curtain-raiser with a surprise slip-up against Bangladesh.

With India prevailing at the Ageas Bowl to leave South Africa on the verge of an early exit, Press Association Sport looks at what has gone wrong for Faf Du Plessis’ men.

1. Schedule

South Africa’s reputation for the dreaded ‘c’ word has preceded them since before the turn of the century but they may not even get the opportunity to choke. They were certainly done no favours by the schedulers as they were pitted against the only two sides ranked higher than them in the one-day international rankings – England and India – inside their first three fixtures. Contrast that with New Zealand, ranked fourth whose first three encounters are all against sides lower than them. The obvious counter-argument is that in a round robin format, all sides are obliged to play each other but South Africa were always likely to be up against it.

2. Expectation

3. Injuries

4. Batting woes

5. No talisman