The defending champions had already suffered defeats at the hands of New Zealand and Afghanistan before going up against South Africa at Wankhede on a crucial Saturday match. Their desperate need for a win was palpable.
However, England found themselves chasing an imposing target of 400 runs, thanks to an outstanding performance by South Africa with the bat. In response, England managed to score just 170-9 in 22 overs, and to make matters worse, an injured Reece Topley couldn't even make it to the crease.
When England won the toss and dismissed Quinton de Kock with the second ball bowled by Reece Topley, there was a glimmer of hope that they could dominate their opponents who had recently lost to the Netherlands.
But instead, South Africa went on a rampage. A remarkable partnership for the second wicket saw 121 runs on the scoreboard before Rassie van der Dussen departed after scoring 60 runs. By the time Reeza Hendricks left the crease after a swashbuckling 85 from 75 balls, South Africa had reached 164-3 in just 25.2 overs.
Though England managed to pull back the Proteas to 243-5 with the help of two more wickets from Topley, they were left helpless as Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen formed a match-winning partnership. Klaasen recorded an impressive 109 runs from 67 balls, while Jansen remained unbeaten with 75 runs from 42 balls, contributing to a total of 151 runs in just 12.4 overs. This propelled South Africa to a formidable score of 399-7 within their allotted overs.
Given England's strong batting lineup, they would have expected to put up a competitive fight, but none of their top eight batsmen managed to score more than 17 runs, with Harry Brook being the highest scorer at 17.
At one point, England found themselves struggling at 100-8 after only 16.3 overs, an unusual and rare sight in cricket. It took remarkable efforts from Gus Atkinson, who scored 35, and Mark Wood, who contributed 43 runs, taking just 38 balls collectively, to salvage some respectability for England, as they reached a total of 170.
South Africa's bowling was a collective effort, with Gerard Coetzee taking 3-35. This comprehensive team performance propelled South Africa into third place in the table, while England languished in ninth, facing a significant deficit in their net run-rate.
