England suffered a dismal seven-wicket loss to South Africa in their final Champions Trophy match as Jos Buttler’s swansong as captain ended in defeat Karachi.
England were bowled out for a dismal 179 with 12 overs remaining after winning the toss and electing to bat, first collapsing to 37-3 in the powerplay before losing their final three wickets for just eight runs, with Jos Buttler making 21 in his final outing in charge.
Joe Root’s 37 was England’s highest score as he shared a 62-run partnership with Harry Brook (19) which briefly steadied proceedings, but South Africa took two wickets in five balls and sharp catches from Lungi Ngidi (1-33) and Marco Jansen (3-39), despite illness and injury striking their camp, to book their place in the semi-finals.
In reply, Jofra Archer (2-55) struck twice in the powerplay bowling Ryan Rickelton (27) and Tristan Stubbs (0), but Heinrich Klaasen (64) and Rassie van der Dussen (72no) shared a blistering 127-run stand to power South Africa to a dominant victory in 29.1 overs.
Adil Rashid had Klaasen caught in 29th over but South Africa only required six more runs from 128 balls at that stage, with David Miller (7no) powering his side home with a second-ball six down the ground off Liam Livingstone with 20 overs and five balls to spare.
South Africa top the Group B table with five points and will face the winner of Group A in the semi-finals, but it remains unclear who that will be and where as India face New Zealand on Sunday in the final group stage match.
However, this means South Africa and Australia, who are placed second in Group B, both have to travel to Dubai with the team not facing India returning back to Lahore for the other semi-final. Meanwhile, England finish bottom of the group having lost all three of their matches.
The third umpire was called in to use UltraEdge to see if the ball touched Jamie Overton’s boot before hitting the stumps for a potential run out
England’s ship sinks further
When England lost Phil Salt (8), Ben Duckett (24) and Jamie Smith (0) in the powerplay, a familiar script was playing out, one that couldn’t have even been prevented by the occasion being Jos Buttler’s swansong as skipper.
South Africa’s tall pacer Jansen was the culprit as he had Salt top-edging to midwicket in the opening over before having Smith caught at mid-on for a duck and then completing a brilliant caught and bowled chance to remove Duckett.
Marco Jansen had to run 28 metres to take a brilliant catch of Harry Brook in the Champions Trophy
Brook and Root added vital runs to prevent England from an embarrassing collapse in their fourth-wicket stand but Jansen made a stunning catch at deep midwicket, running 28 metres from long-on to dismiss Brook.
Root departed five balls later when he was bowled by Wiaan Mulder (3-25) before Livingstone, looking to play aggressively during the wrong stage of play, came down the wicket, missed his swipe, and was stumped by Klaasen.
Ngidi then completed another brilliant grab at mid-on while diving backwards to see the end of Jamie Overton (11).
Buttler and Archer (25) added some resistance to the tail with a 42-run partnership but the England skipper chipped to mid-off bringing a tame end to his innings.
Four balls later Archer followed Buttler to the dugout with Jansen completing another great diving catch at midwicket off Mulder.
Rashid (2) and Mahmood (5no) before the former edged behind to Klaasen gifting Mulder his third wicket with 12 overs remaining.
Jofra Archer bowled Ryan Rickelton with the ball keeping low to remove the South African batter
South Africa outshine dismal England
Archer provided a glimmer of hope for England at the start of their chase when he bowled Rickelton and Stubbs in the ninth over but Buttler’s side would not get another breakthrough until 20 overs later.
Van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen shared 17 boundaries and three sixes, while also posting half-centuries on a good, batting-friendly track, with England’s bowlers unable to find the right line and length.
Klaasen sliced Rashid to short third where Mahmood, replacing an injured Mark Wood, took the catch in the dying moments of the match but South Africa were only one hit away at that stage.
Miller launched Livingstone for a huge six that flew over the sightscreens to power South Africa into the semi-finals and secure their place at the top of the Group B table.
Buttler: As a whole group we’re not getting results
Jos Buttler was caught out by Keshav Maharaj in his last innings as England’s white-ball captain in their ICC Champions Trophy match against South Africa
England’s captain Jos Buttler:
“That was a really disappointing performance. It was a decent surface. Root and Duckett got us in a nice position but we’re just not going on to make those big telling contributions which has been the story of this side for a little bit of time now with the bat.
“As a whole group we’re not getting the results and that takes away some confidence so time for everyone to go away, have a change of scene, and work hard wherever cricket takes you next.
“From this point forward it’s a huge opportunity for everyone inside the dressing room and everyone outside the dressing room to put their hand up and say they want to be part of the rebuild of the white-ball team.”
Markram praises brilliant South Africa
South Africa’s captain Aiden Markram:
“I thought the boys were really good. The wicket was quite slow, slower than we expected.
“The boys adapted really well. Kept trying to hold a length for as long as they could. We took wickets throughout.
“Jansen has been huge for us. We all know in the powerplay, especially in conditions like this, you need to be taking wickets up front. He’s been peaking at the right time for us.”
What’s next?
India and New Zealand battle it out for top spot in Group A in the final group-stage match Dubai on Sunday. Watch live on Sky Sports Cricket from 8.30am, ahead of play starting at 9am UK time.
