‘Not good enough’: Faf pledges ‘harsh words’

Faf du Plessis has warned his players to expect "harsh words" as the South African skipper fights to save his country's World Cup challenge.

Du Plessis' side have little room for error over the coming weeks after two defeats in the first four days of the tournament left their campaign on shaky ground.

Beaten by 104 runs against hosts England on Thursday, the Proteas were upset by a confident Bangladesh side on their return to The Oval on Sunday, losing by 21 runs.

Du Plessis took his share of the blame for Sunday’s loss, admitting he was wrong to put Bangladesh into bat after winning the toss.

With seven games remaining, South Africa can't afford many more slip-ups if they are to make the semi-finals and keep alive their hopes of a maiden World Cup title.

They face title contenders India on Wednesday and Du Plessis has promised he will get tough in a bid to spark his side.

"My style of captaincy has always been that there's a line and if you don't perform to that line, there will be a lot of harsh words," he said.

"There's a time for strictness, and when you see that a dressing room needs you to be strong and to motivate them. But today was not good enough.

"If guys think they can make excuses for performances like today then they will be challenged - that's a fact. All I can say is that we'll keep fighting.

"I'm extremely disappointed, and gutted to say that all formats of our game at the moment are just not firing.

"To blame bad luck is not just an option for me. You still have to find a way to put in performances and we're just off in some areas."

Adding to South Africa's woes, paceman Lungi Ngidi sustained a hamstring strain against Bangladesh and has been ruled out for up to 10 days.

Du Plessis is hopeful key batsman Hashim Amla (concussion) will be fit to face India, but pace bowler Dale Steyn remains a major doubt with a shoulder injury that has kept him out of the first two matches.

Du Plessis top scored with 62 against the Tigers, but conceded his team were undermined by sloppy bowling and careless batting.

Image Id: 1034AC686E0E4A6990EF292E9D6D7406 Image Caption: Bangladesh were too strong for the Proteas // Getty

"Our plan in both the England game and this game was that we make sure we target them with aggressive bowling, but we weren't at our best," he said.

"The opening bowlers would be the first to say we didn't execute our skills today.

"We're just off in all facets and it's not good enough.

"With the bat once again we looked good, did some good things. But myself included, you need to go through and score hundreds. That's what wins you matches, not 30s and 40s."

With their hopes of winning the World Cup for the first time already fading, Du Plessis has promised an immediate response.

"Plan A's gone. Now we have to look at all our options, reshuffling all our cards and seeing what we can do with it," he said.

"I have to believe we can still win the tournament. I wouldn't be South African if I said ‘no’ to that.

"We know we're not good enough at the moment. I don't think it's got anything to do with identity. At the moment it's a skill thing.

"Every single player in our dressing room is not playing to their full potential.

"It's just about making sure you look at yourself in the mirror and see how you can find that answer."

2019 World Cup

Australia's squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

June 1: Australia beat Afghanistan by seven wickets

June 6: Australia v West Indies, Trent Bridge

June 9: India v Australia, The Oval

June 12: Australia v Pakistan, Taunton

June 15: Sri Lanka v Australia, The Oval

June 20: Australia v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge

June 25: England v Australia, Lord's

June 29: New Zealand v Australia, Lord's (D/N)

July 6: Australia v South Africa, Old Trafford (D/N)

July 9: Semi-Final 1, Old Trafford

July 11: Semi-Final 2, Edgbaston

July 14: Final, Lord's

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE