Faf makes no excuses: It's just not good enough

London - South Africa's 2019 World Cup campaign is on the verge of collapse just two matches into the tournament, and skipper Faf du Plessis knows that his side has not been anywhere near good enough. 

Defeat to tournament favourites and hosts England on Thursday was almost expected on a level, but what happened at The Oval on Sunday has hit this side with a near-knockout punch in their efforts to win a first ever World Cup. 

South Africa lost by 21 runs to Bangladesh, and they now have a mountain to climb if they are to qualify for the tournament semi-finals. 

Du Plessis, who is captaining South Africa at a World Cup for the first time, said after the match that he was "gutted". 

"We're extremely disappointed," he said.

"All formats of our game are just not firing at the moment."

The Proteas were not helped by the fact that they lost Lungi Ngidi to a hamstring strain just four overs into his spell on Sunday, while against England on Thursday they lost opening batsman Hashim Amla to a head knock. 

The skipper, though, will not make any excuses.

"To blame bad luck is not an option for me, with Hash the previous game and Lungi today," he said.

"We still have to find a way to put in performances and we are just off in most areas. We are doing some good things during games, but we're not putting it together."

Next up is a trip to Southampton on Wednesday to take on one of the tournament favourites in India. 

At this stage, the Proteas look nowhere near a side capable of winning that game, but Du Plessis says he still believes that the Proteas can make it all the way through to a July 14 final at Lord's.

"I have to believe that ... I wouldn't be South African if I didn't," he said.

"As a team we know we're not good enough and the moment and we have to turn it around.

"We won't just go back and fall over ... we have no choice but to try and turn it around."

@LloydBurnard is in England covering the 2019 Cricket World Cup for Sport24 ...