South Africa convincingly defeated an underperforming England team, securing a 7-wicket victory in Karachi and advancing to the semi-finals in impressive fashion. Their place in the top four was confirmed by the halfway point after dismissing England for a mere 179 runs.
Heinrich Klaasen made a strong return to the team after recovering from an injury that kept him out of the tournament opener. He achieved his fifth consecutive half-century in this format. Rassie van der Dussen also scored a fifty, contributing to a 127-run partnership for the third wicket with Klaasen, ultimately winning the match.
England’s bowlers initially showed more promise than their batsmen, with Jofra Archer taking two wickets during the powerplay. However, despite Archer’s early breakthroughs, van der Dussen and Klaasen comfortably guided their team towards the relatively small target.
Jos Buttler explored various bowling options in search of a breakthrough. Adil Rashid, one of England’s leading bowlers, attempted to break the partnership from both ends without success. Klaasen reached his half-century off 41 balls, marking his first game of the tournament with a significant score. Van der Dussen reached his fifty soon after. Although Rashid eventually dismissed Klaasen, David Miller sealed the victory with a six.
This disappointing conclusion to England’s Champions Trophy campaign was set in motion earlier when Buttler’s decision to bat first backfired. Marco Jansen quickly dismantled England’s top order, removing Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, and Ben Duckett. A 62-run partnership between Joe Root and Harry Brook proved to be England’s best effort, but their decline continued after Keshav Maharaj dismissed Brook.
Root was then bowled out by Wiaan Mulder, and Maharaj claimed Livingstone’s wicket through a stumping. Buttler and Archer offered some resistance with a 42-run stand, but it had little impact on England’s overall situation. Mulder eventually dismissed Archer, finishing with figures of 3-25 as England were all out. Archer’s initial bowling spell offered some hope, but South Africa’s batsmen effectively extinguished those hopes, securing victory with a significant number of balls remaining.
Brief Scores: England 179 (Joe Root 37; Wiaan Mulder 3-25, Marco Jansen 3-39, Keshav Maharaj 2-35) lost to South Africa 181/3 (Rassie van der Dussen 72*, Heinrich Klaasen 64; Jofra Archer 2-55) by 7 wickets
