The Proteas won the toss and elected to field first in the opening match of the World Cup.

South Africa struck with just the second ball of the tournament when Imran Tahir dismissed Jonny Bairstow for a duck.

The English were able to build numerous big partnerships which saw them post a formidable score of 311/8 in their allotted 50 overs.

The all-rounder Ben Stokes top-scored England with 89, while the captain Eoin Morgan contributed with 57. Jason Roy with 54 and Joe Root with 51 also played their part.

Lungi Ngidi was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa with 66/3 in this allotted 10 overs. Tahir and Kagiso Rabada each bagged two wickets.

The South African innings got off to a rocky start when the opening batsman, Hashim Amla, left the field early after being hit on the head by a short-pitched delivery by the seamer Jofra Archer.

The replacement batsman, Aiden Markram, scored just 11 runs before being sent back to the hut by Archer. The fiery seamer struck a short while late by dismissing the captain Faf du Plessis for 5.

Quinton de Kock with 68 and Rassie van der Dussen with 50 were the only South African batsman to trouble the scorers.

The all-rounder, Andile Phehlukwayo, frustrated the English bowlers a little before being dismissed for 24 runs.

Archer was the pick of the English bowlers with figures of 27/3 in 7 overs, while Stokes and Liam Plunkett each took two wickets.

South Africa’s next game at the World Cup will also be played at the Oval when they face Bangladesh on Sunday.

@MorganPiek/OFM Sport