LONDON, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Hosts England managed to achieve a convincing win in their opening game against South Africa in the ICC Cricket World Cup. The capacity crowd at the Oval witnessed the pre-tournament favorites pick up a decisive 104-run victory against the Proteas here on Thursday.
The slow pitch caused England to be far from their fluid selves in the first innings barely scoring at a run a ball in the first 40 overs. However, a powerful cameo from Ben Stokes of 89 off 79 balls pushed the final England total north of 300.
Half centuries from Jason Roy, Joe Root and captain Eoin Morgan earlier in the inning meant that England finished on a very defendable total of 311.
South Africa came to the crease full of confidence after restricting England's power hitters for most of the innings. However, despite an good start with Quinton de Kock scoring a good 68, the raw pace of youngster Jofra Archer and guile of Adil Rashid pinned back any hopes that South Africa may have had.
Taking wickets at a consistent rate throughout the innings caused the South African tale to crumble. Even with an injured Hashim Amla return to save the collapse the final five wickets fell for only 50 more runs.
England's quality was personified when Ben Stokes to a stunning one-handed catch on the boundary to see the back of Andile Phehlukwayo's rear guard resistance.
As an earlier contender for catch of the tournament, England move onto Nottingham next to play Pakistan on Monday. South Africa will stay at the Oval and will hope to turn around their fortunes against up and coming Bangladesh on Sunday.
