And there was further bad injury news for South Africa with the news that another fast bowler - Lungi Ngidi – has been ruled out of the game with India.

Steyn was ruled out of the tournament after suffering a second shoulder injury after entering the tournament 60 percent fit and has been replaced by left-arm paceman Beuran Hendricks.

While Ngidi still needs at least another week on the sidelines with a Grade 1 hamstring strain picked up in the defeat by Bangladesh. 

There was some good news for South Africa on the injury front as the squad’s most experienced batsman - Hashim Amla - has been cleared to play after being hit on the helmet in the opening game against England. 

It will be up to him, captain Faf du Plessis, JP Duminy and the competition’s oldest player Imran Tahir to hold South Africa together. 

“I'm the captain of the team right now and players are looking for someone to lead them. So all I can do is try my absolute best to try and do that. Once again, that doesn't mean results. I wish it did. Because then it would be great," Du Plessis said. 

“For me, I’m trying to make sure I stay positive for the team, I stay strong, encourage other guys in the team, other leaders in the group to also stay strong. 

“At no stage in the game can we as a senior player group look like we are down-and-out. It is not an option for us. 

“We are a very, very proud cricketing nation. So, no matter how bad it gets, how good it gets, I will keep driving that.”

After two defeats in their opening two games and several injuries impacting on team plans, du Plessis said the most important thing is to keep the younger squad members upbeat. 

He added: “The natural thing that happens in a team like that is you find that your confidence goes down and naturally younger guys in the team coming to their first World Cup they will potentially go into their self-pity cycle.”

For that reason, South Africa have focused as much on mental training as their net session, which they managed to complete before the rain came down in Southampton. “We can't control results. We can't control the outcome of the game. What we can control is how strong we are mental, how well we are training and what sort of language are we using in the dressing room,” du Plessis said. 

“For me, that was more the main focus, making sure that the guys are still saying the right things in the team, not questioning themselves because then it's a slippery slope. Then you just keep going further and further backwards.” 

South Africa will also take inspiration from some of the other results that have been achieved so far, such as Pakistan bouncing back from their seven-wicket defeat by West Indies to beat England by 14 runs. 

“The nature of this tournament -- you can see there is a lot of teams that are challenging each other on any different day, so there is still hope for us. We have a lot of cricket left,” du Plessis said. 

His target is for South Africa to win six matches in the league phase to qualify for the semi-finals. They have seven matches left. 

- ANA