London: Legendary all-rounder Jacques Kallis feels South Africa can go deep into the tournament despite their crushing loss to overwhelming favourites England in the World Cup opener.
Ben Stokes shone with the bat and ball besides pulling off one of the greatest catches in World Cup history to engineer Englandâs 104-run thrashing of South Africa at the Oval Thursday.
“It was never going to be easy playing England in the very first game but Iâve seen nothing to change my mind that South Africa can go deep in this tournament,” Kallis wrote in a column for the ICC.
“They will be hard on themselves when they look back on the game, there were too many soft dismissals for my liking, but there was nothing wrong with their performance that cannot be rectified.”
Kallis had earlier said not entering the tournament as favourites could work in South Africaâs favour. The 43-year-old added, “This format allows you to make a slower start, itâs a long tournament and playing everyone evens things out in the end. Having three games in six days has pros and cons with the Dale Steyn injury theyâd have probably wanted a bit more space between them. But it also gives them the chance to establish some early momentum. When youâve lost, you want to get straight back out there as soon as possible and itâs great theyâve got Bangladesh on Sunday.”
Kallis lavished praise on the home team for not losing the plot after losing Jonny Bairstow in only the second ball of the tournament. “They didnât let England have it all their own way. It was obviously a massive toss to win and throwing the spinner the ball was the perfect start. This England side doesnât fold easily and after Jonny Bairstow went, they never panicked, dug in and played some really good cricket.”
“In the past, you might have seen England struggle but they are a powerful unit and that performance was a very good sign for them. Obviously, Ben Stokesâ catch will get the headlines and rightly so, it was absolutely magnificent, one that will certainly live long in the memory.”
Kallis sought to find positives in the defeat, and refused to be harsh on South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis.