ICC World Cup 2019 Faf du Plessis: Kane Williamson let-off not the decisive factor in defeat Captain Faf du Plessis says South Africa's failure to use the DRS to remove Kane Williamson was not where the contest was lost. Peter Thompson 20 June, 2019 10:20 IST Faf du Plessis: Kane Williamson let-off not the decisive factor in defeat Peter Thompson 20 June, 2019 10:20 IST Faf du Plessis defended Quinton de Kock after Kane Williamson capitalised on a stroke of luck to consign South Africa to a Cricket World Cup defeat at Edgbaston on Wednesday.The Proteas' hopes of qualifying for the semifinals took another shattering blow when they suffered a four-wicket loss at the hands of a Williamson-inspired Black Caps side in Birmingham. Williamson made an unbeaten 106 as New Zealand reached its victory target of 242 with three balls to spare, putting it a step closer to the last four.REPORT | Four-wicket win for New ZealandSouth Africa was sloppy in the field and would have had Williamson caught behind if it had reviewed when the captain got a faint edge on Imran Tahir's final delivery when he was in the 70s. There was no reaction from de Kock after he took the catch as Tahir appealed, but captain du Plessis said the wicketkeeper-batsman was not to blame."We weren't aware of it. I think I was at long-on at the time, and Quinny is the closest to the action. He's always my go to man," du Plessis told a news conference.'Twenty runs short'"I just heard about it now at the post-match [presentation] that he said he had a nick on it. But even Kane said he didn't know. He would have referred it. So that's not where the game was won and lost. We had, I think, 20 runs short, and then we had one or two really, really tough half chances."If it was a perfect game, we took that and Kane was out, the game would have been really tight. But for me, that's not the difference today."HIGHLIGHTS | NZ v SARassie van der Dussen and Hashim Amla made half-centuries, but du Plessis felt South Africa fell short with the bat by posting 241 for 6. He added: "We've been saying, and we've been hard on ourselves in that as well…we need guys to stand up and put in performances that will win you games."That has been where we've been short in the innings we've played so far. The one with Quinny getting 60 or 70 the previous game is signs of that, but we still want more." England aiming for a World Cup and Ashes double England welcomed to Downing Street by Prime Minister May World Cup 2019: Did not celebrate Stokes ball deflection, says Morgan Ball hitting Stokes' bat and going for four, hard to swallow: Williamson More Videos World Cup 2019 Final, England vs New Zealand: Match facts and numbers World Cup Highlights: England edges New Zealand in thrilling final Ferguson takes a diving catch to make short work of Morgan England innings off to a bad start with Roy dismissed Liam Plunkett wickets slow down New Zealand Kane Williamson gone after successful review by England WATCH: England vs New Zealand World Cup Final preview World Cup 2019 Final, England vs New Zealand Preview
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