SA qualify for Champions Trophy semi-finals after bundling England out for 179

Agency :

South Africa became the fourth and final team to confirm their place in the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy on Saturday despite the fact that their final group match, against England in Karachi, is still underway.

The Proteas advanced to the knockouts of the ‘Mini World Cup’ after bowling the Englishmen out for 179 – the lowest total so far in the Champions Trophy.

Afghanistan were the other team in running for the final semi-final slot after their final Group B clash against Australia was abandoned due to a wet outfield on Friday. Hashmatullah Shahidi’s men needed England to defeat South Africa by 200 or more runs after batting first for them to pip the Proteas on Net Run Rate (NRR) and join the Aussies in the knockouts.

However, the final result of the game will not matter for South Africa now they have bowled the struggling Englishmen out 21 runs short of the 200-mark. The 1998 champions, though, will be aiming to top Group B with a win and enter the semi-finals on a confident note.

It was a listless batting performance from England with senior batter Joe Root top-scoring for his side with a knock of 37. The former captain had helped England recover from a shaky start with an attacking fourth-wicket partnership with Harry Brook (19) that was worth 62.

Both Brook and Root, however, departed in quick succession and their dismissals extinguished any realistic hopes of England posting a total in the range of 300.

Skipper Jos Buttler, who had announced his decision to step down as white-ball captain on the eve of the game, later added 42 for the eighth wicket with Jofra Archer to take his team close to the 200-mark.

India and New Zealand had earlier confirmed their place in the semi-finals after beating both Pakistan and Bangladesh in their first two outings. The two teams lock horns in Dubai on Sunday to determine which team tops Group A and faces the runner-up of Group B.