With a score of 72 not out of 87 balls, Rassie van der Dussen defeated bottom-of-the-table England by seven wickets to advance to the Champions Trophy semifinals.
South Africa’s clinical performance on Saturday, highlighted by Van der Dussen’s half-century, placed it in second place in Group B, ahead of Australia, who is currently eliminated, and third.
England’s misguided effort of 179 all out (38) was replaced by the Proteas’ 181-3 record in 29.1 overs.
After England had won the toss and chosen to bat, they had already been knocked out of the tournament after back-to-back losses.
As England’s batting looked uninterested, Marco Jansen picked 3-39 in seven overs, while Wiaan Mulder picked 3-25 in 7.2 overs.
England’s run as skipper came to an unhappy conclusion with a previous defeat to Australia and Afghanistan, ending Jos Buttler’s run.
After England’s unexpected exit and their previous disappointments in the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2023 Cricket World Cup, Buttler made the announcement on Friday that he would step down.
After those two Group A teams square off in Dubai on Sunday, Australia will face either India or New Zealand in the second group qualifying match.
If England had defeated the Proteas by 200 runs or more, Afghanistan had a chance of advancing to second place with Australia winning the group.
Jansen struck early in England’s innings. Jamie Smith was then caught with a three-ball duck after Phil Salt was caught out for eight.
Ben Duckett gave Jansen a catch for 24 off of 21 balls, making it 37-3.
The boys worked very hard, according to Jansen, who was named player of the match. “These were good conditions from a batting standpoint,” Jansen said. I made the right decisions and went with my options.
Joe Root made an effort to stabilise the innings, recording 37 off 44 balls. Harry Brook and he combined for 62 balls off 61 balls (19).
With Jansen making a nice catch at midwicket to dismiss Brook, left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj (2-35) made the big play. England then fell to pieces once more.
In the 18th over, Mulder bowled Root, but Buttler kept his record of 21 off 43 balls, which meant the English innings never lost. With four fours, Jafra Archer hit 25 off 31 balls.
England took its final seven wickets for 80 runs and came in with a subpar score.
After losing their seventh consecutive ODI match, England’s manager said, “We were short of our mark today.” Duckett put us in a good position, but we couldn’t take advantage of it because it was a good surface. We are not getting results as a whole, which devalues our collective confidence.
South Africa’s debut, which had a paltry total, wasn’t all that great either. Tristan Stubbs was a five-ball duck that Archer bowled, and he also bowled Ryan Rickelton (27) in the second half.
Van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen combined for a score of 127 runs in the third wicket from 122 balls, making the score of 47-2.
Van der Dussen’s total for the day included six fours and three sixes, and he reached 50 on 72 balls.
Aiden Markram, the stand-in skipper, did not bat after he injured his hamstring while fielding.
Source: Aljazeera
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