Cricket World Cup: Captain Pat Cummins admits Australia are 'hurting' after suffering second defeat

Cummins made no attempt to put a positive spin on things after a six-wicket loss to India was followed by a 134-run defeat against South Africa in Lucknow on Thursday.

Quinton de Kock's second successive century helped the Proteas to 311 for seven, and Australia could only manage 177 all out in reply.

Cummins said: "I thought Quinton in particular batted really well, we couldn’t get a breakthrough, but, I guess, from where they were, we were pretty happy (with 311). On that wicket we felt like it was chaseable.

"It looked like hard work out there at night. Their bowlers bowled really well. It looked like it zipped around perhaps more than during the day but (we were) well off the mark.

"If we want to be challenging for this tournament you’ve got to try to find a way in all conditions. I think not much needs to be said tonight, I think everyone's hurting.

"We've got a few days, the next game's here as well, so we'll regroup and try and make amends."

While Australia must try to turn things around quickly against Sri Lanka on Monday, South Africa are sitting pretty at the top of the table with two comprehensive victories.

De Kock said: "It was a great win for the boys. We didn't really know how the wicket was going to play and I think we assessed conditions really well and played accordingly.

"We definitely thought it was a score that was above par, we felt very comfortable. Our bowlers bowled with top intensity. We didn't give them much of a sniff up front, which was key for us."

Australia put South Africa in to bat, and Proteas captain Temba Bavuma admitted: "I'm glad we lost the toss because we were also going to look to chase. I think things worked out in our favour.

"I found the wicket quite tricky myself, I was scratchy throughout my innings, so I think Quinton going out and ending up with a score like that, he needs to be credited a lot."