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South Africa beat England by 7 wickets and seal top spot in the group
South Africa beat England by 7 wickets and seal top spot in the group
South Africa secured their second victory in the ICC Champions Trophy. 127-run partnership between Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen, chasing a target of 180 in just 29.1 overs.
South Africa comfortably completed a thorough thrashing of England with a seven-wicket victory in Karachi. They'd locked in their spot in the top-four by the halfway stage after bundling out England for just 179. Heinrich Klaasen made a seamless return to the side after missing the tournament opener through injury, notching up his fifth half-century in the format. Rassie van der Dussen scored his fifty too, and added 127 runs for the third wicket with Klaasen before wrapping up the game in the 30th over.
The England bowlers started slightly better than their batters as Jofra Archer struck twice in the PowerPlay. Tristan Stubbs fell for a five-ball duck when he played a ball onto his stumps in the third over. Saqib Mahmood then offered Ryan Rickleton a reprieve but Archer ensured that didn't matter as he knocked back the stumps of the other opener in the ninth over. But England struggled to break through any further as van der Dussen and Klaasen put their side comfortably on course to surmount the small target ahead of them.
Jos Buttler and England seemed to be desperate for a breakthrough, but the partnership between Klaasen and van der Dussen held firm. Adil Rashid and Jofra Archer, both key bowlers for England, tried everything to get a wicket, but the South African pair were up to the challenge. Klaasen’s half-century on just 41 balls and van der Dussen’s solid fifty helped push the chase forward. Even though Rashid eventually broke the partnership by dismissing Klaasen, David Miller's quick finish with a straight six in the 30th over sealed the win for South Africa.
England’s Champions Trophy campaign came to a disappointing end after a poor batting performance in the first half. Buttler's decision to bat, likely hoping to replicate South Africa's dominant performance against Afghanistan, backfired. The early wickets of Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, and Ben Duckett by Marco Jansen left England on the back foot by the seventh over. Although Joe Root and Harry Brook showed some resistance with a 62-run partnership, it wasn’t enough to steady the ship. The key moment came when Keshav Maharaj dismissed Brook, with a sensational catch from Jansen further highlighting England’s misfortune.
Root, who started well, was then cleaned up by Wiaan Mulder, while Maharaj lured Liam Livingstone out of his crease to have him stumped. Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer showed a modicum of resistance in a 42-run stand but that barely moved the needle for England. Mulder dismissed the latter and finished with figures of 3-25 in 7.2 overs as England folded in the 39th over. The South African batters clinically crushed any hopes that Archer kindled with his opening spell as the chase was wrapped up with 125 balls to spare.
Brief Scores: South Africa 181/3 (Rassie van der Dussen 72*, Heinrich Klaasen 64; Jofra Archer 2-55) beat England 179/10 (Joe Root 37; Wiaan Mulder 3-25, Marco Jansen 3-39, Keshav Maharaj 2-35) by 7 wickets.
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