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Cape Town - Former Proteas all-rounder Jacques Kallis insisted that South Africa shouldn't be too hard on themselves after being thrashed by England in the Cricket World Cup opener on Thursday.
The Proteas were bundled out for 207 as the hosts won by a comphrensive 104-run margin at The Oval.
Kallis believes that despite the first game blunder, the Proteas can still go deep.
"It was never going to be easy playing England in the very first game but I've seen nothing to change my mind that South Africa can go deep in this tournament," Kallis wrote in a column for the ICC.
"They will be hard on themselves when they look back on the game, there were too many soft dismissals for my liking, but there was nothing wrong with their performance that cannot be rectified."
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Proteas fast bowler Dale Steyn missed the opening encounter as he continues to recover from the shoulder injury.
South Africa's next opposition will be against Bangladesh at The Oval on Sunday (11:30 SA time).
"Having three games in six days has pros and cons with the Dale Steyn injury they'd have probably wanted a bit more space between them," said Kallis.
"But it also gives them the chance to establish some early momentum. When you've lost, you want to get straight back out there as soon as possible and it's great they've got Bangladesh on Sunday."
Kallis also commended skipper Faf du Plessis on his captaincy tactics in the opening match.
"I thought Faf du Plessis made some really good bowling choices and the variations they bowled were pretty good, I think England would have considered themselves 20 short in a perfect world, which is a positive for us," said the former all-rounder.
"South Africa were well in the game for the first 20 overs of their response but losing Hashim Amla was a big blow. They'll be pretty hard on themselves with some of those soft wickets they gave away after that."
